Visual Storytelling of Landscape Change on Rathlin Island, UK

Ying Zheng (), Rebecca Jane McConnell, Zehan Zhou, Tom Jefferies, Greg Keeffe, Sean Cullen and Emma Campbell
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Ying Zheng: School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Rebecca Jane McConnell: School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Zehan Zhou: School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Tom Jefferies: School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Greg Keeffe: School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Sean Cullen: School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Emma Campbell: School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-23

Abstract: Islands represent distinctive geographical landscapes where cultural heritage, history, and ecological systems converge, offering critical insights into human–environment interactions. This study investigates how visual storytelling through digital tools such as the Historical Environment Map Viewer, Environment Digimap, Google Maps and Google Street View, and ArcGIS Field Maps can be employed to capture, interpret, and communicate islands’ landscape changes. By integrating historical environmental mapping, landscape change mapping, street map views, and field observations, this study creates a layered visual narrative that reveals shifts in land use, settlement patterns, and ecological features over time. Rathlin Island represents a distinctive island landscape, and this study uses visual storytelling as a tool to foster a broader public understanding of environmental conservation and engagement with the island’s ecologial challenges. The study demonstrates that multi-perspective, interdisciplinary methods provide valuable insights into the complex dynamics of landscape change, while also offering a comprehensive vision of sustainable future landscape on small islands.

Keywords: storytelling; islands; multi-perspective; sustainable future landscape; Rathlin Island (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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