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© 2025 Island Innovation. All rights reserved.

    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

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    Showing 9 of 391 news items in Culture & Community
    Malaysia’s Dayaks mark rice harvest end with colourful parade
    Culture & CommunityJuly 1, 2025

    Malaysia’s Dayaks mark rice harvest end with colourful parade

    The Gawai Dayak 2025 Parade in state capital Kuching is the only annual gathering by representatives of around 11 of Sarawak’s main Dayak groups — which participants said helps to keep alive a unique part of the Southeast Asian nation’s culture. Marchers gathered from early Saturday under the blistering tropical sun, many of them travelling long distances by bus to walk in the parade along the banks of the Sarawak River. “This gathering is something that is very important to me,” said Joel Zacchaeus Anak Ebi, sporting the traditional Iban headgear worn by one of Borneo’s best-known tribes.

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    Why Puerto Rico should be your next food destination
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    Culture & CommunityJuly 1, 2025

    Why Puerto Rico should be your next food destination

    More than 500 years of complex history shines through in Puerto Rico’s cuisine — a dynamic mix of Spanish, African and Indigenous culinary traditions. Many of Puerto Rico’s most famous dishes focus on hearty starches, like plantain and yuca, infused with the herby flavours of the island’s favourite condiment, sofrito. Restaurants across the historic capital, San Juan, give a fine-dining twist to classic dishes such as tostones (fried green plantains) and sorrullos (corn fritters). On the coast, no-frills kiosks churn out crispy arepas and spiced alcapurrias fritters. And although it’s tempting to fly in and flop on Puerto Rico’s numerous beaches, you’d be missing much of the island’s raw beauty — it’s well worth winding your way up into the mountainous centre, where you’ll find traditional haciendas growing and serving impeccable coffee.

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    How LGBTIQ+ communities are bridging divides in Cyprus and Kosovo
    Culture & CommunityJuly 1, 2025

    How LGBTIQ+ communities are bridging divides in Cyprus and Kosovo

    Many peacekeeping missions operate in environments where LGBTIQ+ people face stigma, discrimination, or legal barriers. Despite these challenges, missions are finding context-sensitive ways to support rights-based inclusion without jeopardizing their impartiality or host country relations. For the UN peacekeeping missions in Kosovo** and Cyprus, advancing the rights of LGBTIQ+ people has become not only a human rights imperative but a concrete strategy for building trust, strengthening social cohesion, and preventing conflict. Building bridges between communities in Cyprus On the island of Cyprus, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots live on either side of a UN-administered [buffer zone](https://unficyp.unmissions.org/about-buffer-zone). Although Cyprus became independent in 1960 with a constitution intended to balance the interests of both communities, a series of constitutional crises led to the outbreak of violence in 1963. A UN peacekeeping mission, [UNFICYP](https://unficyp.unmissions.org/about), was subsequently established and today helps maintain peace along the buffer zone.

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    Technology transforms intangible cultural heritages in south China’s Hainan Province
    Culture & CommunityJune 24, 2025

    Technology transforms intangible cultural heritages in south China’s Hainan Province

    In the past, discussions about intangible cultural heritage invariably centered around words like “endangered” and “highly difficult.” However, a new wave driven by technology and creativity is gradually breaking down these stereotypes. With a simple click of the mouse, designers can now produce Li brocade patterns that blend classic elegance with contemporary fashion. Meanwhile, 3D printing technology has opened up new possibilities for cultural and creative products derived from intangible cultural heritages.

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    Delving into Ireland’s past at Bealtaine Fire Festival
    Culture & CommunityJune 24, 2025

    Delving into Ireland’s past at Bealtaine Fire Festival

    Photographer [Conor Clinch](https://wepresent.wetransfer.com/artists/conor-clinch) was born and raised in Dublin, but by the time he turned 18, he couldn’t wait to leave, and quickly moved to London to begin his career. This year, he returned to capture the Bealtaine Fire Festival on the Hill of Uisneach which, according to Irish mythology, has long marked the beginning of summer. He tells Bruno Bayley that he saw the festival as an opportunity not only to spotlight the history and traditions of the country, but also as a way to reignite his own connection to his homeland. The Hill of Uisneach stands in County Westmeath, at the point where ancient Ireland’s five provinces—Ulster, Meath, Leinster, Munster, Connaught—met. Uisneach is woven into the nation’s history and mythology and has been a place of gathering and celebration for thousands of years; it’s the reputed burial site of the mythical Tuatha Dé Danann, the seat of the Kings of Mide, and a sacred site linked with druidic gatherings, rites and ceremonial fires. The latter, usually lit in late spring, marked the end of winter and welcomed summer, signalling the return of livestock to the fields. Analogous to May Day, such events are intertwined with the ancient pagan festival of Bealtaine, celebrated throughout the celtic world, where these fires served as focal points for ritual cleansing of cattle, feasting, recitals, games and performance.

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    Tasmanian Aboriginal resistance warriors battled against overwhelming power, but have no recognition
    Culture & CommunityJune 10, 2025

    Tasmanian Aboriginal resistance warriors battled against overwhelming power, but have no recognition

    Tasmania was the scene of the most organised and violent attempt to destroy Aboriginal culture, but there is no recognition of those who resisted the overwhelming colonial power. Figures like the warrior Tongerlongeter who led resistance, and Walyer who was among the many women kidnapped by sealers, are among those who have no physical recognition in Tasmania. The Tasmanian government has abandoned efforts to formulate a treaty with Aboriginal people, instead committing to a truth-telling process.

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    Tonga urges Pacific to halt kava extracts, but Vanuatu and Fiji push back
    Culture & CommunityJune 3, 2025

    Tonga urges Pacific to halt kava extracts, but Vanuatu and Fiji push back

    Image credit: Courtesy of Islands Business. Source: [islandsbusiness.com](https://islandsbusiness.com/news-break/tonga-urges-pacific-to-halt-kava-extracts-but-vanuatu-and-fiji-push-backack/) A brewing debate has surfaced among Pacific Island nations over how best to protect and preserve the cultural and economic value of kava, the region’s cherished traditional crop. Tonga is calling on fellow [Pacific kava producers to follow its lead in restricting the export of kava for extraction](https://vbr.vu/news/tonga-urges-pacific-to-halt-kava-extracts-but-vanuatu-and-fiji-push-backack/)—a move that has sparked strong pushback from Vanuatu and Fiji, the region’s two largest kava exporters. Tonga’s position, grounded in concerns over cultural erosion and potential misuse of the traditional beverage, promotes the idea that kava should only be consumed in its traditional, drinkable form—not processed into extracts for capsules, powders, or supplements abroad.

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    Multi-sector approach rooted in culture key to early childhood development: Mokoroa
    Culture & CommunityJune 3, 2025

    Multi-sector approach rooted in culture key to early childhood development: Mokoroa

    Mokoroa shared this insight during the Pacific ECD Forum 2025 held in Samoa, where he joined Minister of Internal Affairs Vainetutai Rose Toki-Brown to present the Cook Islands’ national statement. The forum earlier this month gathered Pacific leaders and development partners to discuss the importance of nurturing children from birth to five years old.

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    ‘A little downer’: Pine Island music program continues despite Hurricane Ian destroying all instruments
    Culture & CommunityMay 26, 2025

    ‘A little downer’: Pine Island music program continues despite Hurricane Ian destroying all instruments

    Gregory and Warren Van Kirk, who founded the Monday Music program more than 10 years ago, lost nearly everything when the hurricane hit. Not only did it flood from the bottom, it also rained through the top. So everything we thought would might be okay kind of got everything kind of got destroyed,” Gregory Van Kirk said. Despite the setback, the brothers remain determined to keep the program running for the Pine Island community. “We can make music with sticks and snapping and clapping, so that’s not gonna stop,” Warren Van Kirk said.

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