Mapping Our Way Home: Young People Reimagining Anglesey

In December, I had the privilege of hosting a creative workshop at Llangoed Village Hall on Ynys Môn which brought together the inspirational group of people working with me on the Cultural Strand of the Public Map Platform who've been working tirelessly to help young people map and explore their connection to this remarkable island.

The positive energy in the room was palpable as bards, researchers, academics and technologists shared stories from the island. There was a growing sense of co-creation, mapping the community narratives and weaving the many and varied interactions with children and young people in their place - rediscovering nature and local heritage through creative projects in schools, community settings and the four Lle Llais events across the summer of 2024.

What I hadn’t expected was just how moved I would be by the individual stories from children and young people, about the children’s curiosity and natural inquisitiveness and how they had created layered, artistic maps combining their daily routes with local folklore, secret hideouts, and favourite gathering spots. Their interpretations – from hand-drawn/painted “expressive maps" of their neighbourhoods to collective "story maps" tracing ancient Welsh legends (and newly invented ones) across the modern landscape – revealed how deeply personal geography can be.

The three bards, Gillian, Lisa and Rhys have worked a ‘special magic’ and re-enchanted our perceptions of familiar places – from the quiet corners of Newborough to the windswept and unique landscape of Parys Mountain, from Llangoed to Holyhead and many more sites across the island.

It all reminded us how through creative approaches, young eyes can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Researchers Caitlin Shepherd and Tristian Evans shared fascinating insights about how these creative mapping approaches and sensory engagement activities are creating a beautiful dialogue around place-making between past and present. These creative cartographies will become powerful tools for understanding how young people perceive, navigate, and claim their spaces on the island.

The team came together during the afternoon to tackle the ‘so what’ questions, and to discuss what we are finding out during the course of the project, using creative data-gathering methods.

The workshop revealed how artistic mapping isn't just about documenting physical spaces – it's about charting the invisible geographies of emotion, memory, and community that make Ynys Môn home. As we move forward, these collaborative initiatives continue to create a rich, multilayered atlas of the island's future – one where every young person's perspective helps navigate the way forward.

Thank-you to all involved.