Driven by the increasing public awareness of the impact of hurricanes and the devastation of coastal areas, Island(er)s at the Helm contributes to equipping (Dutch) Caribbean societies with proficient tools for confronting these challenging climatic phenomena.
Such adverse events have significant ecological, social, and cultural implications, affecting the basic living conditions (water, food, shelter-nexus/WFS-nexus) and heritage of the island inhabitants. This research builds on the principle that local-specific practices and ontologies of Caribbean societies are crucial for promoting sustainable WFS-nexus solutions. The project brings together researchers and societal partners to employ a mixture of technical, traditional, and contemporary knowledge practices for studying climate change adaptation through a long-term perspective.
Transdisciplinary research design
The Island(er)s at the Helm program studies sustainable and inclusive solutions to climate challenges in the ABCSSS islands from different disciplines. Researchers and societal partners work together to combine technical, traditional and contemporary knowledge practices.
Through archaeology, anthropology, architecture, palaeoecology, palaeoethnobotany, musicology, urban planning, political science, and water management, they are mapping how residents of the ABCSSS islands cope with climate change through five interrelated work packages.
Participatory & engaged research
Island(er)s at the Helm has a participatory approach: research-based and societally relevant strategies for climate adaptation are developed in close collaboration with community stakeholders.
The program hosts regular participatory meetings, as well as larger stakeholder meetings twice a year. In May 2022, the seventh session was held at Axum Art Cafe in St. Maarten. In these meetings, societal partners and interested parties discuss the progress of the research and exchange knowledge and ideas with the research team.
Trans-Atlantic Academic Platform
A trans-Atlantic academic platform fosters research-based education on climate challenges for the six islands. This program will offer joint courses in cooperation with institutes in the region and the wider Kingdom of the Netherlands starting in January 2023.
One of the end objectives of the program is to develop a regional expertise center on climate challenges, where the Dutch Caribbean researchers can find employ, is one of the end objectives of this program.
Project information
Download the full project proposal for Island(er)s at the Helm here.
Also see our project page on the NWO website.
Our team
Dr. Francio Guadeloupe (Chair & Principal Investigator WP2)
Francio Guadeloupe (UvA/KITLV) is a senior researcher and staff member of the KITLV. A Social & Cultural Anthropologist by training, Dr. Guadeloupe has worked at all the major universities in the Netherlands. He served for four years as the President of the University of St. Martin (USM), until hurricane Irma led to the temporary closure of the institution on the bi-national island of Sint Maarten and Saint Martin. Read More.
Prof. dr. Corinne L. Hofman (co-Chair & Principal Investigator WP1)
Corinne L. Hofman (LU/KITLV) is PI of the CaribTRAILS project at the KITLV, which receives funding from the NWO Spinoza prize awarded to her in 2014. She is also Professor of Caribbean Archaeology at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University. From 2013 to 2019, Hofman was the CPI of the ERC-Synergy project NEXUS1492. Read More.
Dr. Antonio Carmona Báez (co-Applicant & Principal Investigator WP4)
Antonio Carmona Báez (USM) is a Puerto Rican political scientist specialised in International Relations and the Political Economy of Development. In 1994, he received a BA from Middlebury College, Vermont, USA where he studied International Politics and Spanish and Latin American Literature. Thereafter, he pursued his graduate degree (MA) in International Relations at the University of Amsterdam. In 2002, he earned his doctorate degree from the same university in International Relations, upon having written his dissertation Global Trends and the Remnants of Socialism: Socio-economic and Political Restructuring in Cuba. Read More.
Prof.dr. Ellen van Bueren (WP4)
Ellen van Bueren is full professor at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment of Delft University of Technology. The governance and management of urban development in support of a sustainable built environment is at the core of her work. She is involved in research on policy, planning and decision-making for climate adaptation, urban resilience, and circular built environments, calling for collaborative action from public and private stakeholders, including individual people. Her research and teaching is mostly of an inter- and transdisciplinary nature, crossing boundaries between theoretical knowledge and societal needs. Focusing on impact for society, she is engaged in action-oriented research, publishes in public, professional and academic media outlets, and speaks regularly at national and international events. Ellen participates in the Islanders at the Helm programme (2021-2026), aimed at co-creating research on sustainable and inclusive solutions for social adaptation to climate challenges in the (Dutch) Caribbean. In 2023, in collaboration with the University of Sint Maarten, she taught a course on urban and planning development in uncertain times, as part of the Trans-Atlantic academic Platform established by the Islanders programme to foster research-based education on climate challenges for the six Dutch Caribbean islands.
Daniella Britt, MA (Communication coordinator)
Daniella Britt is the communication coordinator for the KITLV program ‘Island(er)s at the Helm: Co-creating research on sustainable and inclusive solutions for social adaptation to climate challenges in the (Dutch) Caribbean‘. In this role she will be keeping track of all activities and developments related to the program and communicating these to the general public. Additionally, she will be supporting the team with the Transatlantic Academic Platform events taking place in the Caribbean.
Yayah Siegers Samaniri, MA (Project manager)
Yayah Siegers (MA) studied Southeast Asian/Indonesian Studies at Leiden University. Alongside managing the Island(er)s a the Helm project, she is the communication officer and event coordinator for KITLV and she coordinates the secretariat of the European Association for Southeast Asian Studies (EuroSEAS) which is hosted by KITLV in Leiden.
Sharelly Emanuelson (PhD researcher)
Sharelly Emanuelson is a filmmaker, visual artist, researcher, and founder of Uniarte (art platform). She carries a BA in audiovisual media and MA in artistic research. For her films and installations between 2010 and 2021 she has been widely recognized with screenings, prizes and grants in local, regional, and international festivals and institutes. As a part of Islander(s) at the Helm, Sharelly Emanuelson will conduct ethnographic research from a visual-anthropological perspective, focused on leisure. This research departs from the fact that in the Dutch Caribbean there is a longer trajectory where people are not only faced with natural disasters, but also economic and social repression (the coloniality of disaster) and those circumstances have led to an importance of leisure time as moments of freedom. Emanuelson will conduct multi-sited fieldwork in spaces and places of leisure on four the six Dutch Caribbean islands.
Harold Kelly (PhD researcher)
Harold Kelly graduated with a masters at the Leiden University in 2003. Since then, he has been working as an archaeologist at the National Archaeological Museum Aruba and has also served as a deputy director of the museum between 2007 and 2013. In context of Island(er)s at the Helm, Kelly will be looking at long-term evidence for social adaptations to habitation and climatic challenges in Aruba, Bonaire, and Sint Maarten, from an archaeological perspective. The islands will serve as case studies to examine how islanders coped with challenges that negatively impacted their water and food resources and influenced their settlement location and house structures. Coping mechanisms identified within the archaeological record will contribute to the development of innovative sustainable solutions within the Islanders at the Helm project to mitigate climatic challenges faced today.
Lysanne Charles (PhD researcher)
Lysanne Charles is an artist, educator and activist whose work has centered on empowerment of marginalized groups across issues using tools in education, the arts and activism. She is a native of the Dutch Caribbean islands of Saba and St. Maarten, with family ties to St. Eustatius, Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba. Lysanne has bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina Pembroke and masters degrees in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam Graduate Schools of Science. In the past she worked as an Instructor of Caribbean Studies, Caribbean History and Social Studies and was employed as a civil servant for the Government of Sint Maarten in the areas of policy development and implementation. As a part of Islander(s) at the Helm, Lysanne Charles will utilize a transdisciplinary approach to analyze and bring together stakeholders from government and the community in order to co-create a viable and sustainable policies and strategies roadmap in order to mitigate the impacts of climate change on the SSS islands. Charles’ research project is entitled, “Community Engagement in Sustainable Governance: The Co-creation of Climate Policy on St. Martin, Saba and St. Eustatius” and she will be based at the University of St. Martin.
Dr. Charissa Granger (researcher in Musicology)
Charissa Granger is a musicologist and lecturer in cultural studies at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine (Trinidad and Tobago) whose teaching and research focuses on Afro-Caribbean and diasporic music-making and performance as decolonising practices. Attending to the residue of chattel-slavery and the legacy of colonialism, Charissa is interested in decolonial aesthetics, love, and erotic knowledge in musics such as steelband and tambú. After completing a bachelor’s in visual and performing arts at Northern Illinois University (USA) with a focus on cultural studies and steelpan performance, and a master’s in cultural musicology at The University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Charissa focused on world music performance practice, attending to how otherness is framed at world music festivals as a doctoral research project at the University of Göttingen (Germany). Charissa was awarded the Marie Skłodowska-Curie LEaDing Fellowship at Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2018-2020
Dr. Kees Nooren (researcher in Paleoecology and Climatology)
Kees Nooren has recently been appointed as Researcher in Paleoecology and Climatology by Island(er)s at the Helm project, an ambitious interdisciplinary research program financed by NWO in the Dutch Caribbean.
He has a background in Biology (Msc) and obtained his PhD in Physical Geography. He worked and lived in Brazil, Aruba, and Mexico, and is very interested in human environmental interactions and human adaptation strategies to past climate change, especially for Mesoamerican and Caribbean societies. He is a specialist in palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimate reconstructions, and is familiar with the application of multiple proxies, including pollen and diatoms.
Aga Kus (PhD researcher)
Aga Kus is a researcher with architectural background. She graduated with honors in 2021 with a Master of Science in Architecture at TUDelft. Aga has a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree obtained from Wroclaw University (Poland) with one year of experience focusing on Sustainable Architecture at Polytechnic of Turin (Italy).
In her design projects, she worked on unraveling social and environmental challenges in Mumbai (India) and Bandung (Indonesia). During her Master’s studies she led an international association – BEST Delft, bringing students together to develop themselves and build trust in international collaborations. As a part of Islander(s) at the Helm, Aga will focus on extreme architecture, researching weather-proof design solutions and self-reliant communities on Sint Maarten. Her project is entitled “Community-based circular design”, and she is a part of KITLV and TU Delft.
Dr. Gregory Richardson (researcher in Anthropology)
Gregory Richardson is a lecturer and researcher at the Instituto Pedagogico Arubano in Aruba (Dutch Caribbean). He has published several works on Calypso Music in Aruba and the region. His other areas of research include general Latin American and Caribbean studies, sociolinguistics, music and education.
Dr. Yvette Ruzibiza (researcher in Political Anthropology)
Yvette is a postdoctoral researcher in Political Anthropology at KITLV, in the Islanders at the Helm project. Yvette holds a Postdoctoral research position with Copenhagen Business School. She is a visiting scholar at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam (UvA), where she also earned her PhD. Yvette has extensive experience in the development sector, and her past work within the civil society sector in East Africa focused on youth and women empowerment-related themes, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality, youth economic empowerment, youth financial inclusion, migration, and gender-based violence. She has practical experience in building bridges between national authorities, the private sector, and civil society. She is passionate about following the political developments, conflict dynamics, and international relations of East Africa. More.
Dr. Anna Younes (researcher in Human Rights and the Environment)
Anna Younes (PhD, she/her) has worked and published on processes of racialization in Europe, with transnational readings between the Middle East and Germany. Her focus is on settler colonialism, critical race theories and psychoanalytic approaches, while thinking transnationally and transhistorically. As part of the Islander(s) at the Helm team, she is interested in zooming in on the taxonomies of differences on the human-animal-nature-spectrum within settler colonialism and how the latter can be used to look at gun-ownership in a rapidly changing setting of a challenged environment and climate on Saba. More.
Dr. Daphina Misiedjan (researcher in Human Rights and the Environment)
Dr. Daphina Misiedjan is assistant professor in human rights and the environment at International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague and 2020/2021 Fellow at The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS). She is also an expert within the UN Harmony with Nature program. She specializes in issues concerning human rights and environmental justice, specifically concerning Environmental Justice within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Rights of Nature and Environmental Justice fromm local city and neighborhood perspectives.
Andrea Richards (affiliated PhD researcher)
Andrea is a Caribbean archaeologist presently working on various initiatives on disaster resilience in the Caribbean’s culture sector, with a focus on post-disaster needs and vulnerability assessments and the safeguarding of living heritage in emergencies.
Andrea’s interests are wide in the heritage field; however, she has special interest in the impact of climate change on cultural and natural heritage, the sustainable use of heritage, the application of international heritage treaties in the Caribbean and the movement of the region’s cultural property. She is an associate fellow at the KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of SE Asian and Caribbean Studies (CaribTRAILS Project) and is presently undertaking doctoral research on climate change adaptation and heritage, with a focus on cultural heritage pathways in mitigation, adaptation and building resilience in the Anglo-phone Caribbean with linkages to the Dutch Caribbean. She has also conducted research for publications focussing on cultural resource management in the Caribbean, the impact of natural hazards and climate change on the pre-Columbian archaeological record, and resilient Caribbean communities and climate change.
Dr. Menno Hoogland (affiliated researcher in Archaeology)
Menno Hoogland is Associate Professor in Caribbean Archaeology at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University. He studied cultural anthropology with a focus on prehistory and physical anthropology at Leiden University. In 1980, he participated in the Spitsbergen expedition of the University of Groningen. He wrote his doctoral thesis on settlement patterns of the Amerindian population of Saba, Netherlands Antilles.
Hoogland currently works as senior researcher in the CaribTRAILS project, focusing on indigenous burial practices before and after the arrival of the colonial powers in the Caribbean region.
December 2023 – Ongoing Research: Paleoecological Reconstruction of Past Vegetation and Climate on Bonaire
Dr. Kees Nooren was recently conducting field research in Washington
Slagbaai National Park in Bonaire. Kees does research on paleoecology and climatology within the Island(er)s at the Helm project. In the past he has worked and lived in Brazil, Aruba, and Mexico. He is interested in human environmental interactions and human adaptation strategies to past climate change, especially for Mesoamerican and Caribbean societies. This research has been possible in partnership with STINAPA Bonaire, where Kees has also presented various aspects of his (preliminary) findings to the general public as well as park rangers. Read more about this research here.
December 2023 – Launch BES Climate Impact Atlas
Today on the 7th of December, we congratulate Islanders partner Climate Adaptation Services (CAS) with the launch of the Climate Impact Atlas for the BES islands. This platform intends to make climate data and statistics of the islands more easily accessible for the general public. We can for example directly visualize the impact of climate change on coastlines, reef health and more. There’s also the possibility to upload community and personal stories to accentuate the lived experience of islanders and how climate change affects lives, homes, work, recreation and more on the islands. Visit the platform here.
November 2023 – Kon Na Leti Speech at the KNAW Keti Koti Table
On the 9th of November Dr. Francio Guadeloupe (Islanders chair) was invited to give a speech at the Keti Koti table held by the KNAW at the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. With this speech, Dr. Guadeloupe hoped to remind us to not forget the singularity in all of us in the name of any collective.
“The general objective of the Keti Koti Table is to increase awareness of the internal- and social conflicts and blind spots that arise from the complex historical and social backgrounds of the Dutch slavery and colonial past and to gain new insights that lead to a society free from discrimination and racism.” Read the speech here.
October 2023 – Transatlantic Platform Public Lecture in Bonaire
On the 20th of October Island(er)s at the Helm hosted the public lecture ‘The Reality and Management of Climate Challenges in the Caribbean: The Case of Bonaire’ at the Terramar Museum in Bonaire. A recording of this lecture is available here.
The speakers at this event were:
– Dr. Ellen van Bueren, Professor at TU Delft and work package leader within the Island(er)s at the Helm project
– Dr. Timo Kelder, Stichting Climate Adaptation Services
– Iris Keizer, Climate Scientist for the KNMI
October 2023 – Transatlantic Platform Public Lecture in Curaçao
On the 18th of October Island(er)s at the Helm hosted the public lecture ‘The Reality and Management of Climate Challenges in the Caribbean: The Case of Curaçao’ at the National Archaeological Anthropological Memory Management (NAAM) Center in Curaçao. A recording of this lecture is available here.
The speakers at this event were:
– Dr. Ellen van Bueren, Professor at TU Delft and work package leader within the Island(er)s at the Helm project
– Pédzi V. J. Girigori de Flores, Head of Observations, Forecasting and Warnings Division Meteorological Department Curaçao
– Dr. Timo Kelder, Stichting Climate Adaptation Services
– Hosted by Elton Villareal, President of the board at the NAAM Center
May 2023 – Vacancy: Postdoc in Political Science/Policy Studies
Through the Island(er)s at the Helm research program, USM in collaboration with the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW) and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV) are receiving applications for a 2-year full-time Postdoc appointment in the field of Political Science/Policy Studies, specializing in climate change adaptability. Candidates should possess a Ph.D. degree in a relevant field or attain their doctoral degree by July 2023. The successful candidate is expected to begin in September 2023. Read more.
April 2023 – Transatlantic Program Announces Second Round Course:
The Island(er)s@ the Helm in collaboration with the University of St. Martin is proud to announce the launch of the Transatlantic program second round course, “Music, Performance and Climate: The usefulness in connecting art, science and humanities for thinking through climate.” The course will run for 10 sessions and will be offered both online and face-to-face. Read more.
March 2023 – Vrij Nederland. Hoe dekoloniseren we verder? ‘De norm begint te rafelen’.
‘Overal ter wereld, niet alleen in Europa, had je het idee dat sommige mensen zijn geboren om te heersen en anderen om overheerst te worden. Om allerlei redenen – gender, huidskleur, etniciteit, religie, noem maar op. Tot er in de achttiende eeuw drie grote revoluties plaatsvonden: de Amerikaanse, de Franse en de Haïtiaanse Revolutie. Deze revoluties vielen alle drie onder de noemer gelijkheid, vrijheid en broederschap/zusterschap. Read more.
Feb 2023 – De Correspondent. Deze Nederlandse gemeente dreigt onder water te lopen (maar een klimaatplan is er niet).
Er is een Nederlandse gemeente die straks als een van de eerste onderloopt door de stijgende zeespiegel. Waar bewoners, natuur en economie enorme klappen krijgen door de opwarming van het klimaat. Alle reden om in te grijpen, zou je denken. Maar er gebeurt nauwelijks iets. Read more.
Jan 2023 – Presentation at the University of Aruba: Traditions, symbols and actors in Aruban Carnaval
The University of Aruba’s Center for Lifelong Learning in collaboration with the Community, Research, Education and Development Project organized a Calypso, Steelpan and Carnival Heritage Project on Aruba and in the Caribbean Diaspora throughout January 2023 with Island(er)s team members Dr. Gregory Richardson and Dr. Charissa Granger. Read more.
Dec 2022 – Dr. Daphina Misiedjan new member of The Young Academy
Daphina Misiedjan champions the cause of climate justice, for example by investigating the legal barriers to addressing climate challenges in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. She also examines environmental justice in its local context, where air pollution is a factor, for example, as well as access to safe and affordable drinking water. Read more
Nov 2022 – Ta organisa tayer riba presente y futuro di region Caribe
The Islanders at the Helm workshop Building Coalitions in the Face of Climate Challenges was hosted at the National Archaeological Museum Aruba in November 2022. Read more.
Nov 2022 – Introducing the Transatlantic Academic Platform
In partnership with the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Technische Universiteit (TU) Delft, the University of St. Martin (USM) will be offering special intensive courses through its participation in the Transatlantic Academic Platform, starting January. Read more.
Nov 2022 – Prinses Beatrix attends celebration 25 years Genootschap Nederland-Aruba with lecture by Dr. Francio Guadeloupe
On Saturday afternoon, November 19, 2022, Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands will attend the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Genootschap Nederland-Aruba. Princess Beatrix will attend the speech by anthropologist Francio Guadeloupe on ‘De erfenissen: over de schoonheid en tragiek van de Nederlandse Cariben’. Read more.
Oct 2022 – Revolt! Degrowth! Decolonize! Global Climate Agendas, Local Struggles. Event with Lysanne Charles and Daphina Misiedjan
Central questions we will address are: What is the role of scholars, artists and activists in addressing the climate crisis? How can we call government, science and the corporate sector to account for their responsibility for this catastrophe? This event formed the beginning of a longterm commitment in which KITLV wants develop a research agenda that contributes to an intersectional and decolonial perspective on climate justice. Read more.
Sept 2022 – Rijksmuseum Exhibition Document Nederland by Islanders researcher Sharelly Emanuelson
Commissioned by the Rijksmuseum, Sharelly Emanuelson photographs sustainability within the Netherlands and the six Dutch Caribbean islands. In the exhibition Sustainable/Sustain/Tene, Emanuelson examines the balance between humans and their environment in light of climate change and the impact of our daily actions. Read more.
Aug 2022 – Beginning of the year lecture @ USM
Islanders at the Helm researcher Dr. Charissa Granger gave the #beginningoftheyear lecture for University of St. Martin at the National Institute of the Arts in St. Martin on August 25th 2022, titled ‘Reinventing Worlds Through Musical Imagination’. Read more.
June 2022 – Our team at Dutch Caribbean Research Week
Dr. Charissa Granger: presentation ‘Caribbean Diasporic Methodologies: Thinking through science education and music studies’ and panel discussion on climate change
Aga Kus: Poster pitch and presentationKees Nooren: presentation ‘the Caribbean Climate, from past to present’
Lysanne Charles: presentation ‘When Island(er)s Le(a)d’ and panel discussion about the Dutch Caribbean Research Platform.Dr. Antonio Carmona Báez: panel discussion about the Dutch Caribbean Research Platform. Read more.
June 2022 – Working across the Atlantic: research collaboration in the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Dr. Francio Guadeloupe (University of Amsterdam / Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies), Doenja Koppejan (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science), and Prof. dr. Liesbeth Echteld (University of Curaçao), participated in a panel discussion on sustainable, kingdom-wide scientific collaboration. Read more.
May 2022 – Public Meeting at Axum Art Cafe, Philipsburg, St. Maarten
An evening with short presentations, conversations, drinks and music by Sweet Pan Entertainment SXM in Philipsburg on Wednesday May 18 2022, from 19:00 –22:00 at Axum Art cafe at Speentjes Arcade, #7 Front Street. Read more.
May 2022 – Island(er)s at the Helm team meeting in St. Maarten
In Island(er)s at the Helm, twelve researchers study sustainable and inclusive solutions to climate challenges in the ABCSSS islands from a variety of disciplines. In this meeting at USM, the researchers got together to share and brainstorm on ways to map how residents of the ABCSSS islands are coping with climate change, across the disciplines of archaeology, anthropology, architecture, paleoenvironment, paleobotany, musicology, urban planning, political science, and water management.
May 2022 – DOW’s Musical Foundation with Dr. Charissa Granger
DMF hosted a lecture presented by Dr. Charissa Granger, steel pan researcher and musicologist lecturer at the University of the West Indies on the importance of music and steel pan, at the Philipsburg Cultural Center. Read more.
May 2022 – Workshop at Saba Comprehensive School
Lysanne Charles spoke with high school students and taught them about her research topic: When and Where Island(er)s Le(a)d: A Co-creative Approach to Sustainable Policy Development. Read more.
April 2022 – Paleoecology and Core Sampling Public Event in St. Maarten
The University of St. Martin (USM) invited the general public to attend an information session on research currently being carried out in both the Dutch and French territories of the island by Dr. Kees Nooren (Netherlands) and Dr. Jaime Pagán Jimenez (Puerto Rico). Read more.
April 2022 – Island(er)s at the Helm team pays a visit to Commissioner Saba
On Tuesday, April 5, Saba Commissioner for Culture Rolando Wilson welcomed a team of scientific researchers working at the Saba Heritage Center to discuss the potential impact of research findings. The Saba Heritage Center hosted team members of the Island(er)s at the Helm research program. They are looking into the island’s deep past when Saba’s first inhabitants settled the areas of Plum Piece, Old Booby Hill, Black Rock and Fort Bay Ridge around 3,800 years ago, and the ensuing centuries when the island became more populated. Read more.
Jan 2022 – Island(er)s at the Helm digital kick-off meeting
In January 2022, Island(er)s at the Helm welcomed several new researchers to the team. In the week of 10 January, Island(er)s researchers got together to share research ideas and progress, to discuss plans across work packages and get to know each other. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, this meeting was organized online, instead of in St. Maarten as originally planned.
Jan 2022 – 32 children in Aruba participate in Island(er)s at the Helm school activity
Students of ages eight to twelve years old from the Montessori school in Aruba gathered at Ayo to visit the pictograph site with archaeologist and PhD candidate Harold Kelly (National Archaeological Museum Aruba). Together, they explored the Ayo Rock formation, got a tour of the pictographs and participated in an engaging discussion about heritage and climate change and how climate challenges affect their daily lives. Read more.
Nov 2021 – Prome dialogo publico relaciona cu investigacion di doctorado di e Isleñonan na Timon.
Harold Kelly ta investiga e efecto di cambio di clima riba bida diario desde antaño te awendia y con e ser humano a adapta na e cambio aki. Comunidad ta un fuente importante pa haya sa mas di e relacion entre cambio di clima y forma di biba. Pa esaki Harold Kelly hunto cu MANA ta organisa encuentronan cu partidonan interesa/stakeholders. Diahuebs 28 di october ultimo a tuma luga e prome sesion. Lesa mas.
SEPT 2021 – Twenty organizations participate in Island(er)s at the Helm’s first stakeholder meeting
On 14 September 2021, the Island(er)s at the Helm program hosted its first Kingdom-wide event with societal partners and other stakeholders. This meeting is the start of a five-year collaboration that brings together researchers and societal partners to use technical, traditional, and contemporary knowledge practices to study climate change adaptation. Working closely together, the Island(er)s at the Helm program will co-create sustainable and inclusive solutions for social adaptation to climate challenges in the (Dutch) Caribbean. Read more.
JULY 2021 – Three Dutch Caribbean PhD candidates in the NWO Island(er)s at the Helm project.
True to the name and their promise, the Island(er)s at the Helm project, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) programme Caribbean Research: A Multidisciplinary Approach, is employing CAS and BES islands researchers. Harold Kelly (Aruba), Lysanne Charles (Saba/St. Maarten), and Sharelly Emanuelson (Curaçao/Aruba) will be appointed from the 1st of September 2021 to work for four years on their PhD projects in relation to preparing the six Dutch Antillean islands for impending climate challenges. Read more.
JANUARY 2021 – ‘Island(er)s at the Helm’ awarded with funding from the NWO Caribbean Research programme
On January 7th Minister van Engelshoven of Education, Culture and Science of The Netherlands announced that the project Island(er)s at the Helm: Co-creating sustainable and inclusive solutions for social adaptation to climate challenges in the (Dutch) Caribbean is one of two projects awarded with funding from the NWO Caribbean Research programme. Read more.
APRIL 2020 – Island(er)s at the Helm Public Outreach Seminars
In preparation of a proposal for the Dutch Research Council’s (NWO) call for Caribbean multi-disciplinary research, Corinne Hofman (LU/KITLV) and Francio Guadeloupe (UvA/KITLV) visited the six Dutch Caribbean islands together with a team of researchers and societal partners to discuss their proposal on social adaptation to climate change challenges in the (Dutch) Caribbean with local stakeholders. Read more.
Island(er)s at the Helm in the media
TeleAruba, Nos Mainta. Interview cu Harold Kelly. 27 March 2024. Link.
Share2Uplift. Interview met Francio Guadeloupe. 26 March 2024. Link.
University of St. Martin. USM team at the forefront of climate change! 25 March 2024. Link.
NPO Radio 1, De Nacht Van. Wetenschapper Francio Guadeloupe over zijn onderzoek naar de Caribisch-Europese identiteit. 8 March 2024. Link.
Gebiedsontwikkeling. Laten we niet blind varen op apps die klimaatrisico’s in één cijfer vatten. 4 Maart 2024. Link.
Soualiga News. USM hosts successful public lecture on culture, society, and climate challenges by Island(er)s at the Helm. 26 Feb 2024. Link.
University of Pennsylvania. Caribbean Borderlands and Sonic Encounters Conference. Charissa Granger on ‘The Education of Feeling in the Riddim Break: Rethinking and Reinventing the Human for Caribbean Futurities’. 23 Feb 2024. Link.
Extra. Tremendo evento kultura, sosiedat, i desafionan klimatológiko organisá pa ICUC. 21 Feb 2024. Link.
24ora. A presenta estudio riba comportacion di hende pa cu cambio di clima. 14 Feb 2024. Link.
X FM Aruba. The Wake Up Crew – Radio interview with Harold kelly y Francio Guadeloupe. 13 feb 2024. Link.
24ora. Charla tocante cambio di clima, cultura y sociedad. 7 feb 2024. Link.
24ora. Instalacion “Tene A” na Museo Arqueologico di Aruba. 15 Jan 2024. Link.
Caribisch Netwerk. ‘Wees voorzichtig met conclusies trekken over Piet op de eilanden’. Interview met Francio Guadeloupe. 5 Dec 2023. Link.
NPO Vroeg! Klimaatverandering Caribisch gebied. Interview met Francio Guadeloupe en Daphina Misiedjan. 26 Oct 2023. Link.
University of Aruba. Twenty UPEI researchers present at international conference: Turning the Tide: Climate Change, Social Change and Islandness in Oranjestad, Aruba this week. 23 Oct 2023. Link.
Nu.cw. Klimaatverandering op Curaçao al voelbaar, actie is nodig. Interview met Pédzi Flores-Girigori. 18 Oct 2023. Link.
The Daily Herald. SER to present distinguished speakers on sustainable urban and social development. 11 Oct 2023. Link.
DCNA. Climate scenarios and a Climate Impact Atlas for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. 10 Oct 2023. Link.
EA News. Turning the Tide: Second International Conference on Small Island States. 11 Sept 2023. Link.
University of St. Martin. USM Researchers engage with Caribbean region. 16 June 2023. Link.
Human-ing Out Loud: Ontologies of Disorder in a Musically Exemplified Trans-Caribbean-Thought, a lecture by Dr. Francio Guadeloupe at Cornell University. 19 April 2023. Link.
Kluwen. ‘FILOSOFIE & DEKOLONISATIE, deel 2: Het Antropoceen, Blackness en klimaatactivisme’. Yolande Jansen, Jasmijn Leeuwenkamp (Universiteit van Amsterdam), Francio Guadeloupe (Universiteit van Amsterdam en Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van de KNAW) en Harriët Bergman (Universiteit Antwerpen). 10 April 2023. Link.
Vrij Nederland. Hoe dekoloniseren we verder? ‘De norm begint te rafelen’. 7 Mar 2023. Link.
NOS Journaal 20.00 uur. Do 9 feb 20:00 – Seizoen 57 Afl. 29. Kort Interview met Lysanne Charles. 9 Feb 2023. Link.
De Correspondent. Deze Nederlandse gemeente dreigt onder water te lopen (maar een klimaatplan is er niet). 1 Feb 2023. Link.
Hits 100.9 FM. Entrevista di Dia cu dr. Charissa Granger y dr. Gregory Richardson. 26 Jan 2023. Link.
24ora.com. CHARLA Y ACTIVIDAD CULTURAL NA SCOL DI ARTE SAN NICOLAS DIAHUEBS AWO. 24 Jan 2023. Link
Massive 103.5 FM. Lecture: “Traditions Symbols and Actors in Aruba Carnival”. 16 Jan 2023. Link.
University of Aruba. Presentation: Traditions, symbols and actors in Aruban Carnaval”. 10 Jan 2023. Link.
Mas Noticia. Minister Endy Croes y Dr. Gregory Richardson a firma acuerdo pa e proyecto di investigacion climatico “climate challenges”. 9 Jan 2023. Link.
De Jonge Akademie. Ten new members for The Young Academy. 14 Dec 2022. Link.
Caribisch Netwerk. Door het oog van de lens: hoe kijken de eilanden naar duurzaamheid?. 2 dec 2022. Link.
Island(er)s at the Helm. Building Coalitions in the Face of Climate Challenges. 8 Dec 2022. Link.
24 ora.com. Ta organisa tayer riba presente y futuro di region Caribe. 24 November, 2022. Link.
Mas Noticia. Un combersacion publico. 24 nov 2022. Link.
Kiko ta pasando. Un combersacion publico tocante “Adaptacion na Cambio di Clima y Sistemanan di Conocemento Tradicional den Caribe” na MANA. 24 nov 2022. Link.
Arubanative 24 nov 2022. Un combersacion publico tocante “Adaptacion na Cambio di Clima y Sistemanan di Conocemento Tradicional den Caribe” na MANA. Link.
Viral 297. Un combersacion publico tocante “Adaptacion na Cambio di Clima y Sistemanan di Conocemento Tradicional den Caribe” na MANA. Link.
CoolFm 98.9. Un combersacion publico na NAMA. Link.
Awe Mainta. Un combersacion publico na NAMA. 25 Nov 2022. Link
24ora.com. Harold Kelly: Dos dia di tayer di Solucion di Conocemento Tradicional di Cambio di Clima. 29 nov 2022. Link.
24ora.com Trece conscientisacion riba cambio di clima ta importante. 30 Nov 2022. Link
Mas Noticia. Workshop tocante cambio climatico den region di Caribe. 30 November, 2022. Link
Hits 100 fm. Entrevista di Dia cu Harrold Kelly y Andrea Richards:. 25 Nov 2022. Link.
Nos Mainta tv. Islanders at the Helm. 28 November 2022. Link.
Diario. Bishita di Comunidadnan Indigena a wordo clausura cu un panel tocante medio ambiente. 03 dec 2022. Link.
Mas Noticia. Exitoso tayer internacional tocante potencial di conocemento tradicional pa reduci impacto di cambio di clima den Caribe. 10 December, 2022. Link.
Kiko ta pasando. Exitoso tayer internacional tocante potencial di conocemento tradicional pa reduci impacto di cambio di clima den Caribe December 10, 2022. Link
The Daily Herald. USM, UVI partner participation in Transatlantic Academic Platform. 15 november 2022.
University of St, Martin. Introducing the Transatlantic Academic Platform: New Courses. 15 November 2022. Link,
De Publieke Tribune op NPO Radio 1. Blinde Vlekken in onze Klimaataanpak. Interview met Daphina Misiedjan. 5 november 2022. Link.
Antilliaans Dagblad. Francio Guadeloupe & Tibisay Sankatsing Nava. Biba dushi den mal tempu. 9 May 2022.
Entrevista di Dia Hits100 FM na Aruba. Harold Kelly (archeologo), Dr. Francio Guadeloupe (antropologo) y Tibisay SN (science communication y community engagement coordinator) tokante “Island(er)s at the Helm”. 27 Jan 2022. Link Hits FM.
Daily Herald. Print. Islanders at the Helm’s first meeting on need for climate change adaption. 21
Saint Martin News Network. Twenty organizations participate in Island(er)s at the Helm’s first stakeholder meeting.
The Daily Herald. USM welcomes its first PhD researcher.
Soualiga Newsday. USM welcomes its first PhD researcher.
Goverment.aw. Archeologist Harold Kelly doctorate/Ph.D. candidate. 16 August 2021.
Telearuba. Arkeologo Harold Kelly di MANA candidato pa bay haci su doctorado/PhD. 15 July 2021.
Koninkrijk.nu. Week van het Caribisch Onderzoek: Onderzoek verbindt het Koninkrijk. 15 June 2021.
NWO Onderzoeksmagazine, rubriek Opgemerkt door Carel Stolker, ‘Klimaatadaptatie in de (voormalige) Nederlandse Cariben‘, 15 April 2021
Universiteit Leiden, ‘Embedding scientific research in the Caribbean with funding from NWO‘, 17 February 2021
24 Ora, ‘PROGRAMA “ISLEÑONAN NA TIMON” A HAYA FONDO DI E PROGRAMA DI INVESTIGACION CARIBENSE ‘NWO’‘, 11 February 2021
DCNA Nature. Island(er)s at the Helm awarded with funding from the NWO Caribbean Research programme. 9 February 2021.
Visit Aruba News, ‘Island(er)s at the Helm awarded funding from NWO‘, 10 February 2021
The Daily Herald, ‘Island(er)s at the Helm awarded funding from NWO‘, 10 February 2021
Curacao Chronicle, ‘Island(er)s at the Helm awarded funding from NWO‘, 10 February 2021
Saba-News, ‘“Island(er)s at the Helm” awarded with funding from the NWO Caribbean Research Program‘, 9 February 2021
UNESCO Nederland, ‘Miljoenensteun voor onderzoek naar erfgoed en klimaatverandering in de Cariben‘, 15 January 2021
The Daily Herald, ‘Guadeloupe to co-chair research into climate resiliency at USM‘, 11 January 2021
Sint Maarten Agriculture, ‘Caribbean Research Program Chair assigned to Francio Guadeloupe‘, 9 January 2021
SXM Talks, ‘Caribbean Research Programme chair assigned to Francio Guadeloupe‘, 9 January 2021
Saint Martin News Network, ‘Caribbean Research Programme chair assigned to Francio Guadeloupe‘, 9 January 2021
Paradise FM, ‘7 miljoen euro voor Caribische projecten‘, 7 January 2021
Universiteit van Amsterdam, ‘Grote impuls voor Uva-onderzoek in Cariben‘, 7 January 2021
Saba-News, “Caribbean Research Program receives boost of more than 7 million euros“, 7 January 2021
NWO, “Island(er)s at the Helm awarded with funding from the NWO Caribbean Research programme“, 7 January 2021
2020
Project Newsletter, “Island(er)s at the Helm Public Outreach Seminars“, 31 March 2020
Xiomara Balentina, “The Western University in ‘Exotic Spaces’“, March 2020
Radiostation Nos Mainta interviews Francio Guadeloupe, Corinne Hofman, and Harold Kelly, March 2020 (01:06:38)
Amigoe, ‘Leren van tradities om weerbaarder te worden bij klimaatverandering‘, 14 March 2020
Amigoe, ‘Onderzoek naar impact klimaatverandering op erfgoed‘, 12 March 2020
24ora.com reports ‘Museo arkeologico a duna charla con antropologia y arkeologia ta combina cu cambio climatico‘, 12 March 2020
24ora.com, ‘Seminario Consultivato Na Mana Riba Rentonan Di Cambio Di Clima Den Caribe’, 11 March 2020
Saba News, ‘Discussion on “Sustainable Solutions for Climate Challenges in the Dutch Caribbean”‘, 6 March 2020
The Daily Herald, ‘Post-coloniality and decoloniality central at academic symposium‘, 29 February 2020
The Daily Herald, ‘USM to host researchers of climate change vulnerability’, 28 February 2020
Academic partners
Island(er)s at the Helm is hosted by the Koninklijk Instituut van Taal, Land en Volkenkunde (KITLV/KNAW), the University of St. Martin and the University of the Virgin Islands.
Island(er)s at the Helm is funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) Caribbean Research programme.
Other academic partners include: Instituto Pedagogico Arubano, Inter-Continental University of the Caribbean (Curaçao), Leiden University, University of Amsterdam, TU Delft and Universiteit Utrecht. Island(er)s at the Helm is funded by the Dutch Research Council’s (NWO) Caribbean Research program.
Societal partners
The project also works closely together with a wide range of societal partners including non-governmental organizations, government and industry representatives from the Dutch Caribbean islands and the Netherlands.
Videos
Photos
Island(er)s at the Helm team at Spaceless Gardens in St. Maarten, May 2022
The team has regular online meetings to exchange ideas and discuss theory.
Headline Daily Herald after stakeholder meeting at Axum Art Cafe, May 2022.
Dr. Francio Guadeloupe, Harold Kelly & Tibisay Sankatsing Nava in Aruba.
USM Natural Science students with Island(er)s researchers in the field in 2022.
Winning artwork Climate Change art competition by Tyler Johnson, Saba.
Core sampling activities by Island(er)s at the Helm researchers in 2022.
Dr. Francio Guadeloupe during stakeholder meeting at Saba Comprehensive School in 2020.
The preliminary research team preparing the proposal in Curaçao in 2020.
Group of researchers at the National Archaeological Museum Aruba in 2020
The preliminary research team in Statia after one of the first stakeholder meetings.
Presentations during initial stakeholder meetings in Saba in 2020,
Project updates
NWO
Island(er)s at the Helm is funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) Caribbean Research programme.
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Introducing the Transatlantic Academic Platform: New Intensive Courses at USM and UVI.
Prinses Beatrix attends celebration 25 years Genootschap Nederland-Aruba and lecture by Dr. Guadeloupe.
Rijksmuseum Exhibition ‘Document Nederland’ by Islanders researcher Sharelly Emanuelson. Visit in Amsterdam until 15 January 2023.