International delegates due next week for RETI conference

Orkney hosts an international gathering of academics and students next week.

Around 70 representatives of island-based universities are expected to take part in the two-day conference, hosted by the Centre for Nordic Studies at Orkney College UHI.

A further 25 students from the universities — from communities as far apart as French Polynesia, Cuba and Japan — will also travel to Orkney for a three-day summer school.

The UHI is one of 25 universities in island areas around the world that form RETI, Réseau d’Excellence des Territoires Insulaires — the Excellence Network of Island Territories.

RETI seeks to encourage cooperation in scientific research, training and innovation, and to foster joint research projects in fields such renewable energy and natural resources, information technology and communication, and sustainable development.

A RETI conference and summer school is held each year, with the UHI selected to host the 2015 event, which gets under way next Friday. The conference is open to the public as well as the university delegates.

This year’s conference will consider the “impact of cultural heritage on economic development in island destinations”.

Professor Donna Heddle, director of the Centre for Nordic Studies, said: “A range of topics of relevance to island communities will be under discussion — from island-based tourism, to protecting the underwater heritage in the seas around us, to the particular factors that affect education and employment choices in island communities.

“Our own students will be contributing to the conference and taking part in the summer school — a great opportunity to mix and share ideas with their counterparts from islands around the world.”

The RETI conference takes place on Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27, and is open to the public.