The Island

The Island brought together young people from two island nations—the United Kingdom and Vanuatu—to co-create an imagined island through a series of creative exchanges. Beginning with the Vanuatu participants (working with Wan Smolbag theatre company) creating initial island designs, the Young Coneys in the UK then added their own elements, followed by final additions from Vanuatu. The process built meaningful connections between the groups while exploring themes of shared responsibility and care.

Developed as part of the Erasmus+ project Codename: Seedling, the exchange evolved into a participatory workshop for adult audiences that sparked conversations about climate justice. In January 2025, the workshop was presented at Destelheide, Belgium to various groups, including Erasmus project artists and symposium participants exploring innovative approaches to youth arts and climate activism. The workshop highlighted the inequality at play in the climate crisis—with Vanuatu facing extreme climate vulnerability despite generating only 0.0016% of global carbon emissions—while demonstrating how artistic collaboration can address complex global challenges. Read more about our time at Destelheide on the blog.

The Island making team is keen to continue to engage adult audiences in a conversation around climate justice and spark action. The Island will find a home with Mod, a new collective of games and experience designers with a practice rooted in playful activism, led by Toby Peach. If you would like to book The Island or are interested in supporting its development please contact info@modgames.co.uk.

Additionally, Boundless Theatre  – where Pavlos, one of the creative team, is Artistic Director, would like to develop the methodology and connect with more locations to build a broader playful exchange across continents. Boundless are currently looking at models of engagement and funding, which would facilitate an international collaboration to explore climate justice and develop creativity, compassion and agency.If you are interested to know more about the next steps of this exciting exchange then subscribe to Boundless’ mailing list here.