island conversations
podcast series
Welcome to SICRI’s “island conversations” podcast series.
The aim of these podcasts is to highlight the work of island studies scholars and practitioners who make a significant contribution to islands’ research, arts, and culture landscape.
The podcasts are accompanied by a curated transcript that is edited to read as an independent piece.
"Island Notes" composition in Cretan Flat Mandolin by Christophoro Gorantokaki @"Melody Box"
Welcome to SICRI’s Island Conversations podcast series. This is Dr. Evangelia Papoutsaki, the host of this podcast and SICRI’s co-convener.
In this island conversation we hear from Thaïs Giselle Franken, a public administration and organizational scholar from Aruba, in the Caribbeans. She is a lecturer in the Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Aruba where she teaches in the bachelor and master program within the Department of Organization, Governance & Management. Thaïs is also a researcher for the Aruba Institute of Good Governance & Leadership, an independent, multi-disciplinary, and not-for-profit competence center of the University of Aruba that focuses on regional research and capacity-building activities. Her current focus is how governance and institutional dynamics between civil society and the government impact effective evidence-based policymaking in small island societies. In 2023, she started her PhD research on public value governance in small island states which aims to identify how civil society organizations in Aruba and Bonaire contribute to public value governance within a complex and unique multi-level governance structure such as The Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Among the other research interests that Thaïs has included are Cultural and Creative Industries (Orange Economy), Cultural Heritage, “Islandness” & Kingdom Relations, Innovation for Sustainable Development, Organizations & Institutional Change, Civil Society Organizations.
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Thaïs, welcome to island conversations!
Hi Valia, thank you for having me. It's a pleasure for me to be here with you..
Let's start on your personal island connections. Could you share with us some memories of growing up and living in your island Aruba in the Dutch Caribbean? How has that shaped your identity and worldview?
Well, Valia I was born on Aruba. Since I could remember, I was born in a country and an environment where I always went to the beach, I was very active in nature. And my island connection, I consider it very diverse. In my opinion, it really reflects the Aruban multicultural identity, a sense of connectedness, closeness that up until this day, I only feel when I'm home.
I identify as an Aruban, but I do think my identity is somewhat shaped by a blend of influences. From my mother's side, my mother’s father came to Aruba and migrated from Suriname. My father's lineage and ancestry traces back to Aruba's colonial past. So, in in my household and in my family in the culture that I was raised in, I could definitely say it's very diverse and blended. So, for me “Islandness” is very much plural, (a) blend of history, culture, language that is very unique to most islands, but specifically also in my case for Aruba. I could also say that growing up, I was very much aware of how colonial narratives also shaped how Aruba's political and socio economic and environmental development occurred.
In my own fond childhood memories, I do have a specific moment from when I first travelled to the United States or to Europe, where I really realized how small my home was or how isolated I was from the rest of the world. Also, when I moved to the Netherlands to study for my master's, it was the first time that I lived abroad and it really helped me fall in love and really appreciate the simplicity of being raised on an island and living on an island and the closeness the community. And I know that for many people living on an island seems daunting or boring, but for me it really was my safe haven and I don't- how can I say this?- I really appreciate the fact that I was born on Aruba and hopefully with the work that I'm doing right now, I can also be an advocate and I can share a lot of the beautiful culture that I was raised in.
From left to right: Thaïs Franken with her mother, Thaïs Franken with both parents and sibling, Thaïs Franken and family members (Photo source:Thaïs Franken)
Thaïs Franken with grandparents (Photo source:Thaïs Franken)
The official languages in Aruba, are Dutch and Papiamento, which is a Spanish/ Portuguese based Creole language. Do you speak Papiamento in your everyday life?
Yes, I speak Papiamento in my everyday life. When I was born, actually, because my mother's family came from Suriname, I was born in a household where I predominantly spoke Dutch with my mother and Papiamento with my father.
In my everyday life I switch from different languages in one day, so I can speak Dutch, Papiamento, English -because I work at the university, so I teach in English. And Spanish as well, because we have a lot of Spanish speaking people living amongst us. So, we speak predominantly 4 languages and Papiamento definitely is the main language that I speak. And it is a combination of Portuguese, Dutch, English, Spanish, but also the African Creole languages.
​That is fascinating! A tiny little island of- what- under 200,000 perhaps people has such an amazing diversity.
Yes, I think right now we are around 110 or 120,000 people on the island. It's a very small island. I think it's 19 (21) miles long. So, it's highly populated for such a small island. But yeah, we speak 4 languages and I think that also has to do with the location of Aruba. The island is very close to Latin America, so we are around 30 minutes away from the border of Venezuela.
You can imagine with the indigenous heritage, but also because of the proximity, we have a lot of people on Aruba that have family or ancestral relations with Venezuela, Colombia and the neighboring countries. And because of our colonial history, we have the influence of the Portuguese language and Spanish language and also the Dutch language.
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I would like to come back to that in a second. Aruba is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. So, growing up in Aruba and even now as a scholar, a professional how do you feel the connection with the Netherlands, a faraway country?
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Well, I think because of the educational system in Aruba, which is still very much linked to the system as we have it in the Netherlands. The education that you will find in Aruba is predominantly in Dutch. Most of the books and resources that are being used in the classrooms come from the Netherlands. So, from a young age you are taught about the Netherlands, the motherland, you are taught about the king or the queen. You sing songs that really resemble the relationship between the Netherlands and the islands. There are specific traditions like sinterklass, zwarte piet that are very popular on the islands, but come from the Netherlands.
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From a young age, children are introduced and know that they are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, even though many of them have never actually lived in the Netherlands or had the opportunity to visit the Netherlands. We learn about the history, geography, but also the European context of the Netherlands. But then it's also fascinating because, for example, in books you read about specific things that you could only find in Europe like trains or snow, right? So, for small children and four years old that live at the beach practically and that have never seen snow this is the context that they receive their education in.
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The ties with the Netherlands are very strong. Until this day, many students, when they finish their education, they go and move to the Netherlands for their university degrees. It is almost ingrained in us that we are part of the Kingdom and that we have close relationships with the Netherlands.
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What are some of the implications, challenges and opportunities for Aruba to be part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands? In other words, how is this connection manifesting in the everyday life, but also in your scholarly and education work? You mentioned for instance how when you finish school, you have to go to the Netherlands for your university. What happens to these people who go to the Netherlands from Aruba? Do they come back? What kind of influences do they bring back and how are these manifesting?
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I think this is actually a very interesting question because I think it's still heavily debated in our community what is actually the added value of being part of the Kingdom. Why do we have to be part of the Kingdom? There is a large group in the community that feels that strong desire to remain part of the Kingdom or have a very strong Kingdom of the Netherlands identity. But there you also have those that kind of question why we still remain in the Kingdom and why we want to insist on having these collaborations or why want to insist on having this relationship with the Netherlands and Europe.
One of the biggest advantages, I would say that comes with being part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is that we have a Dutch passport so, we are part of Europe. We are an overseas country and territory. Much of the legislation rules, funding that there is available in Europe also in an indirect way, reaches the Kingdom and the islands. Being part of the Kingdom also offers the islands somewhat of a stability. I think financial stability, but also legal stability. We know that for islands the question (is) how vulnerable are we to large crisis and how independent or how able we are to be resilient in those cases?
For example, one of the biggest disasters that Aruba has experienced is COVID-19. If Aruba was not part of the Kingdom, I don't think we would have survived. We basically went bankrupt because we had a lock down, so there were no planes coming in, no planes leaving the island. The tourism completely halted. That means we did not have any income, but because we were part of the Kingdom, the Netherlands could support or was able to support all the islands during that crisis. It is a very relevant topic that many Arubans still to this day talk about, and it's heavily part of the political discourse that is happening.
I think for Arubans themselves and for students when they leave the island, when they go to study- because like I mentioned, it is almost customary that all students, when they finish high school and if they have the ambition to continue their studies, most of them go to the Netherlands. This has been the common practice, the routine.
Now that the University of Aruba is expanding, we have more programs, we have more faculties, we have more students that are staying back home to study. There is a housing crisis back in the Netherlands. So, students often find it difficult to find housing. It's becoming more popular to stay on Aruba to study or even to study in the US or in Canada, or even in Colombia for those that want to do that. You see that the relationship with the Netherlands till this day, it's still an ongoing debate and I think for the upcoming years this will not change.
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That process resulted in Aruba receiving its status aparte in 1986 and the remaining islands remained in the construction of the Dutch Antilles. Then, in October 2010, Curaçao and Saint Martin also wanted to have this independence, this degree of independence like Aruba. So then, Curaçao and Saint Martin also received their independence within the Kingdom and the remaining three islands became special municipalities of the Netherlands. So, this created a unique Kingdom construction and I think this has had a lot of implications for how the Aruban community, but also the other communities see their relationship with the Netherlands and how they define their relationship with the Netherlands and how they would like to see it in the future.
I personally don't think that the Kingdom of the Netherlands will dissolve. And this is why it's so important to find new ways of collaboration and many scholars have started to contemplate these questions. Where do our relationships start? And where do our relationships end? It's definitely one of those conversations that is still ongoing and still a question actually.
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As you mentioned, The Dutch Caribbean currently comprises the constituent countries of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten (the 'CAS' islands) and the special municipalities of Sint Eustatius, Saba and Bonaire (‘BES’ islands) my pronunciation. How do these islands interact with each other in the wider Caribbean? Or is your point of reference linear directed with the Dutch and not with each other?
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This is a very interesting question, especially when you would assume that because you are part of the Caribbean and because you are all islands that you would have very strong relationships or strong ties. But I think the Caribbean is a very unique case. Due to the colonial history, you have different colonial countries that had impact in the Caribbean.
So, you had the Portuguese, you had the Spanish, you had the Dutch, you had the English. So, each country kind of had its own impact and left an impact behind or left something behind within one region. So having these different impacts also resulted in having islands with different cultures, with different languages. And because of the proximity and because of the smallness, the scale issues, the connection between the islands is not as close as many people would think. So many people, I think, assume that all Caribbean islands have this one connected synergy or have this unity.
I think there is unity within groups of islands, especially the islands that speak English, the islands that speak Spanish, the islands where they speak, mostly French or the islands in this case, that speak Papiamento, right? Papiamento is a very different language and is not spoken outside of the Dutch Kingdom. So, when it comes to how we communicate, language, culture and heritage topics, it's very diverse. It's even funny because if I want to travel to, for example, the island Guadeloupe, I would have to travel to the mainland, maybe US and would have to fly to Florida and then from Florida catch a flight to Guadeloupe. Or I would have to take a connection flight. There are no straight, direct flights between the islands, which makes travelling, which makes building those connections, which makes having that unity very difficult.
I also think that culturally, many of these islands reached their independence at different rates. The experience of the islands that were under the French rule was vastly different than the islands that were under the English rule, or even the Dutch and for many of the islands that are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands -so, I'm talking about the six islands ‘BES’ islands and the 'CAS' islands the collaboration is there because we are a Kingdom, so it's almost a forced relationship.
But the thing is, we have so many ties due to families, due to food culture. But again, the proximity language also plays a role within the Dutch Kingdom. So, for example in Sint Maarten they are predominantly an English- speaking island within the Dutch Kingdom. You also have Saba and Statia that are both very much predominantly English speaking islands. And then you have Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire where Papiamento -which is a completely different language- is most spoken on those islands. So, the diversity aspect also has an impact on the degree of collaboration, the relationships. But then you see, through history, how the migration patterns looked like because of the economy.
Back, I would say two centuries ago, the refinery and the oil industry was the predominant economic pillar for most of these islands, and you saw a lot of migration. People from the English- speaking islands migrating to Aruba and then there you saw a different dynamic, new relationships, new ties. The culture evolved, right? So, you adopt, you evolve the culture, the heritage evolves as well with time and new cultural traditions are born. So, if we look now from the current perspective of the Dutch Kingdom, I believe because of the political influences and developments over the years, there is a continuous new approach of OK what is our new found identity. How do we relate to one another? How can we -as islands- unite and collaborate more? And I think because of crisis such as COVID-19 it really exposed the urgent need for us to work more together, to work smarter to share resources and to share expertise not only for the benefit of the economy of these islands, but also for the people that are living on these islands.​​
Thaïs Franken with Master thesis supervisor Dr. Serdar Türkeli and the second evaluator after successfully defending her thesis at UNU-MERIT/Maastricht University (Photo source:Thaïs Franken)
Thaïs Franken with promotor prof.dr. Wieger Bakker (left) and her co-promotor dr. Luc Alofs (right) at the University of Aruba (Photo source:Thaïs Franken)
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Thaïs Franken at the Creactivo Conference 2024
(Photo source:Thaïs Franken)
Thank you for such a comprehensive articulation of the challenges. What I hear from what you said is the rippling and persisting effects of colonialism that have maintained in a sense the fragmentation within the Caribbean, but also the constantly evolving conditions that shape, Aruba and the other islands in the region. And I think that's a good sequence to the next question. I wanted to just focus on your own specific islands research. You've done your master's in public policy and human development, specializing in innovation institutions and development, and currently you are a PhD candidate focusing in governance & civil society networks. Can you share with us some highlights or insights from your field work in Aruba and how is that reflecting the current situation and also the colonial heritage in a sense?
Back when I was an undergraduate student at the University of Aruba, I became a research assistant to my now co-promoter, Dr Luc Alofs. He's a historian and anthropologist who did a lot of investigation and research in the Dutch Caribbean, specifically on “islandness”, but also on cultural heritage and topics such as how the communities on the islands identify themselves. Topics such as nation building versus nation branding. So, a lot of my work in research is related to the cultural heritage of Aruba and the wider Dutch Caribbean and also my interest in “islandness” and my current work that I'm doing right now.
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Some of the highlights, I think throughout the years has definitely been when I initiated the start of the mapping of the cultural and creative industries of Aruba. I knew back then that the government and their efforts to kind of start the process of diversifying the economy. The cultural and creative industries was one of the economies that the government listed that they wanted to explore. So, I saw this as an opportunity to delve into what opportunities or what are the obstacles for Aruba to develop this industry from scratch.
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It had a lot of elements of cultural heritage and how (or) what makes us unique as Aruba, what could we offer? What could the cultural practices, cultural services mean for the wider cultural and creative industries in the region? So, I did a lot of my work in that area and then when I went to the Netherlands to do my master's my research supervisor told me “Thaïs, you are very passionate about the creative industries. Why don't you stick with that research area?”.
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So, then I looked at the implications of merging the knowledge economy with the creative industries and what this could mean for Aruba being more resilient and being more focused on building more practices for innovation. I looked at the organizations on the island. I looked at their readiness, at their comprehension, but also their capabilities for transitioning into this new mindset. Then when I came back to Aruba and started working at the university, I did a lot more research on the islands on Bonaire, on Curaçao. I did a lot more research on cultural heritage for the Dutch Kingdom and what that has meant over the years.
And as slowly as the years have gone by, I started to have more interest in the island studies, but from my own expertise. I come from a background of governance and public administration. But then I had this strong interest in island studies. So, now my goal is to kind of merge these two fields of science -public administration and island studies, because I do think that for the Dutch Caribbean Islands, a lot of the questions right now are in matters of how can we make organizations more sustainable? How can we make stronger and more just institutions, how can we make sure that the governance of these islands is happening in an effective manner.In order to answer those questions, you have to understand the context that we are living in, which is that we are an island. So, when you adopt Western theories like public value governance, which is the main theorem that I'm using.
These are theories that were made for Western countries, mainland Europe and the US, but we don't know how these theories can be implemented or can be used in small scale societies, or what the implications for that are. And because we are islands that are part of a Kingdom with a country like the Netherlands, which I consider a very (well) developed country, it creates a dynamic where you have four countries that are not on the equal or are not equal in resources, in finances, in geography, in access and power. So, it creates a very interesting dynamic. So, when you're talking about politics, when you're talking about governance, when you're talking about public value and reaching that value, having the inside of “islandness” creates a different or a new layer to this conversation.
University of Aruba campus shots (Photo source:Thaïs Franken)
Absolutely. I think what you so well articulated is that governance and civil society in formal colonial settings, especially in in islands that continue to have a dependence on the former colonial powers, has perhaps contributed to a less developed a governance skills and also civil society. How is that manifesting in Aruba? What is the state of the civil society networks for instance?
This is a very interesting question because, this is a question that even for the Dutch Government, is still unknown, right? The civil society in Aruba, I can say that they are the backbone of the island, even though we are a small community. All of the work and policy implementation comes from civil society. This is why I also wanted to focus on civil society and the empowerment of civil society, because many of the research that has been done it is has been done from the angle of the government. So, how can we make the government more efficient?
But from my angle I'm like look guys, many times, because of these scale issues, because of the challenges that the government is facing, (such as) lack of resources, a lot of the responsibility the main task is awarded to the organization. These organizations are the ones that have to carry out and are the closest to the day-to-day challenges of the community. This is why I chose specifically to focus on civil society and to also look for ways that we can empower them and how, in the dynamic between civil society and the government, these organizations can be more engaged in the process of policy making, in the process of securing the development of the island, not only in Aruba but also on a regional level and also on an international level.
I think that from the perspective of civil society more can be done, to understand the challenges that they are facing. And because of the multi- level or the multi layeredness of our governance structure within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it creates a lot of misunderstandings from the Hague towards us, the Islands and from us the Islands towards the Hague. Hopefully with my research I can postulate this.
Yes, because your PhD is looking at a governance and civil society networks within a very specific sociocultural context. And in this case, the context is an island that retains very close governance, in a sense, connections to it's formal colonial power.
Are there any examples, good examples of Aruban civil society? (Any) organizations, activities that illustrate how important this civil society is for the functioning of the Aruban society, because you mentioned that they are the backbone essentially of Aruba. Since governance is still nascent in a sense.
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​Definitely. In my research, I look at sociocultural organizations and I have made an overview of different vulnerable groups that we find on the islands. One of them are the elderly or youth organizations, but also women's organizations that have been pioneers in creating more community cohesion and foster cultural unity.
There are specific cases that I'm researching, but there are numerous examples of organizations such as CEDE Aruba that have been working for many years with generations in fostering social cohesion on the island. There are similar organizations like CEDE Aruba on the other islands as well. But what do you see is that because of the history of the islands, the connections that these islands have to the Netherlands is different. So, it really depends on the island, it depends on who is in specific roles that determines the success of these organizations.
Thaïs Franken winning the award for the best New Voices in Island Studies Presentation at the “islands and island studies” SHIMA/JICAS/SICRI conference in Jersey (Photo source: SICRI)
That is what I am researching and that's why I really want to compare - is the CAS study or is the construct of the of the CAS Islands better or worse than the BAS, or is the BAS, better, or worse than the CAS? Or both structures not conducive of creating more collaboration with the Netherlands? So, I think from the perspective of civil society, there are numerous organizations that I have highlighted and will be highlighting through my research. It will be very interesting, especially when I do the network mapping to see how these organizations work together or if they work together and if not. Τhen, through the interviews that I will be doing, I can deduce how and why these organizations work or don't work together.
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That is going to be a very useful contribution to the study of islands, and I was just going to ask you, how does your work contribute to the study of islands? But I think you just have elaborated so well. What you were saying is that (in) the connection with the Netherlands or the connection between the different islands there is not just one single way. Each island is a unique microcosm, and it has its own civil society.
Networks are unique to the islands’ sociocultural context, and that requires a very different approach. I will be very keen to read that mapping, that network market mapping and what we can learn from it in terms of you know, small islands, especially in the Caribbean.
I think if I can look back at my PhD research, there are four specific contributions that my research could have to the wider island studies. One of them is governance and policy design. I think it's very important for us to look at public administration in the lens of “islandness”, looking at the construct of the Dutch Caribbean.
Another contribution could also be the empowerment of civil society, because I don't think that this is only a matter for Aruba, but I think it's something that is shared amongst all islands. Needing that empowerment and having the role of CSOs (civil society organizations) in filling the gaps left by governments. I also think there is an opportunity to contribute in the field of leadership and co- creation. Leadership strategies that prioritize co- creations are, I think, essential for fostering this inclusive governance structure. The last one, I think like you mentioned is a collaborative governance network. These frameworks (such as public value governance) actually enable local and inter island collaboration. So, I think this is very important for islands facing these shared challenges such as the climate change, resource management, etc. So, these are maybe four areas of I think that research could contribute to island studies.
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Thank you, Thaïs. And I think indirectly or directly rather you also answered why islands like Aruba are important to see. As you so well articulated. I would like one day to come and visit you during the Aruba Carnival. Such a significant cultural event, which is akin to celebrations in other Caribbean and Latin American countries as well. That must be very special for all Arubans to engage. What are some observations you have made over the years of how the festival that the carnival has evolved in, of its contribution to island’s economy?
Thaïs Franken participating in Carnival festivities and parades with friends and colleagues
(Photo source:Thaïs Franken)
I think, the carnival season is a huge party on the island. It actually started on the 11th of November. It always starts on the 11th of November and it ends on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. You can imagine there are some years where the carnival period is maybe two months and like in this case this year, the carnival period is until March. So, we have months of carnival festivals, activities, parades, queen elections, music festivals, with soca music. So it is, I think, the biggest cultural expression of the island, and it's definitely a good example of how these specific culture practices came due to migration.
During the days of the Lago and oil refinery, we had a huge influx of migrants that came from the English speaking neighboring islands and they brought their carnival customs with them. So, then you can imagine that we started having big parades where we had soca music and festivities, elections and all of these parties that up until now form a huge part of the cultural heritage and the cultural expression of Aruba.
There have been a lot of studies regarding these expressions, but I think it's very unique because most of these Caribbean islands have carnival, but all these carnival expressions are so different.
There are some elements that are similar to all of these islands. But then each island has made carnival their own. So, each carnival has incorporated their own music instruments, their own sounds, their own folk and dance and their own languages. Many of the songs that we dance during Carnival on Aruba are either in English or in Papiamento. So, the differences are very rich and should be celebrated. I always encourage all my friends from all over the world. To come and experience a carnival and to really see with your own eyes what for us Arubans carnival means.
What I love about what you said is that this carnival, it is what it is because of all the influences that came from around the Caribbean and neighboring countries, but then they still down into very unique Aruban event, right?
Yes, we have a lot of practices and a lot of music rhythms that are native to our islands basically, such as the music of tumba. Tumba is a music genre that comes from Africa or has an African origin. You won't hear it (the tumba) when you go to Saint Kitts or you won't hear it when you go to Saint Martin, but you will hear soca. And soca is also what you will hear on Aruba.
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You will find that even in the soca genre you have different styles of soca. You have soca of Saint Kitts, soca of Jamaica, soca of all the islands. You have diversity. That is also very beautiful because when you have people from the other islands coming and visiting, you see that there is an unspoken closeness and an unspoken sense of unity because we all kind of feel that same fire, but we can also appreciate the differences in how each island has made carnival their own.
Thaïs Franken participating in Carnival festivities and parades with friends and colleagues (Photo source:Thaïs Franken)
Fascinating! Back in 2019, SICRI hosted a conference in Jamaica, in the University of West Indies, on island festivals and music, and we recently published a book with Doctor Sonjan Stanley Niaah from the University of West Indies where we had a lot of contributors from the Caribbean. Actually, half of the book was contributions from the Caribbean Islands on music festivals. Just as you said, Saint Kitts has a very different soccer from, another island which shows the richness of the musical culture, richness of the regions. But also, I would like to say that sometimes in highlighting that as distinctive as they are, there are also manifestations of the interconnectedness that existed in the past that contribute to that richness and that the small islands sometimes are cut off due to geopolitics, colonialism, other external forces, but naturally they are, they have always been connected and communicated with each other within their regions.
Definitely! I think on a cultural level and on a personal level, you have more interconnectedness, you have more relationships, you can imagine. I mean, back then you had people that migrated for work. Then you had new families, new family constructs. So, the ties are there, but I believe because of the colonial history and how politics has shaped the region over the last few decades, it created a bit of a polarization. Maybe that all of the English- speaking islands connected with each other and all of the Dutch-speaking islands connected together.
The wider region is also very big, right? If you look at the at the geographical span of the islands, it's a very large region, so even for travelling it becomes very difficult to sustain that it becomes difficult to kind of connect the islands. You know you have certain islands that are connected by boat, by ferries, but that is not the case for the Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao “ABC” Islands because we are part of the Southern hemisphere, so we are closer to Latin America.
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So, for the islands that are more in the middle of the Caribbean region, the interconnectedness is much more present and it's just stronger, but I do remain hopeful that in the future, and especially in my generation, that the island study scholars from our region that we can connect and that we can maybe change this narrative and change this reality and maybe unify the islands more. I think also from the University of Aruba, it's also our responsibility to connect to other Caribbean universities more. That is really my hope and I know that I am a young scholar, so I am at the start of this journey, but I do hope that in the upcoming years and decades that this reality can shift for the better.
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Absolutely! I think you identified something important here. Forging inter-islands institutional connections will be so important in terms of studying the islands and creating new scholarship from within the islands as an expression of the local islands’ scholars. What the rich conversation Thaïs. Thank you very much for taking the time. I think we could continue having this conversation for another couple of hours because there's so many things I'm curious to know about life in Aruba and in the region, but I'm sure we will have the opportunity to do that in the future and some other occasion. Thank you very much for taking the time and I know you're in Curaçao today.
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Yes, thank you Valia for this opportunity. It was really a rich conversation and for me it's always an honor to share my own journey and my own experiences living on Aruba and being an islander, I think in this case. So, it's been a pleasure and I'm always open for more conversation and looking forward to that as well.
Aruba within its wider region (Photo source: https://www.britannica.com/place/Oranjestad-Aruba)
References
Franken, T (2021) Het landschap van Nederlands-Caribisch Cultureel Erfgoed. Leiden University Press.
Franken, T (2019) The Road Towards an Innovative Aruba: A Q-Analysis on the Synergy Between the Creative Industry and Knowledge Economy as a Driver to Stimulate Socio-Economic Development in Aruba's Local Innovation System. The University of Maastricht, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance. United Nations University Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation & Technology. Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Franken, T (2018) Placing Culture and Creativity at the Heart of the Aruban Sustainable Development: An Exploratory Research of the Possible Economic, Cultural, and Social Impact of a Creative Industry. The University of Aruba, Faculty of Arts & Science. Oranjestad, Aruba.