Erica Clarkson

Erica Clarkson

HAPPY ISLAND LIVES: Perceptions of happiness and well-being on Scottish islands with islands around the world, but especially the Maltese Islands and the Faroe Islands (working title).

This PhD is funded by the Scottish Government and is being undertaken to support delivery of Scotland’s National Islands Plan and implementation of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018.

This study is about perceptions of happiness and well-being on islands. It seeks specifically to identify what ‘happiness’ looks like at an island level in Scotland whilst drawing comparisons with other island communities around the world. Whilst it addresses island happiness on a global level, it takes a much deeper look at Scotland’s islands alongside one island nation in Northern Europe and one in Southern Europe. This is because of the Islands (Scotland) Act, 2018 and its resultant National Islands Plan are particularly important in a European context. The general purpose of this work is to provide a more nuanced overview of island happiness/well-being in Scotland in order to inform the design of future islands policy and to gain a better understanding of the ‘emotions’ that Scottish islanders feel about their islands. To do this well, Erica hopes to expand the remit of her work to include learning from islands around the world, and she has started to connect with relevant policy makers and stakeholders who are currently engaging in implementing relevant policies on their own islands. Erica’s overall ambition is to unearth what truly brings happiness and a sense of well-being to islanders, and as importantly, what does not. Her hope is that this work will help to create a ‘futures narrative’ to inform policymakers of what might be done to make Scotland’s islands better places to live, and to help our islanders become happier people.

Erica is the Head of the Islands Policy Unit in the Scottish Government and is carrying out her PhD on a part-time basis. Alongside her main work, she is currently partially seconded to the Islands and Small States Institute at the University of Malta.