Twenty years ago Donald WG Lindsay began developing a keyless chanter capable of extending the traditional nine-note range of the Scottish smallpipes to two octaves and more. He and Orkney-based maker Joel Chaney are now exploring what happens when the design is made from recycled fishing-net material. Part handling exhibition, part illustrated conversation and part informal performance, this session follows the journey from waste material to playable instrument.

Part of developing resilience in uncertain times, says artist Jenny Pope, is to go back to making things for ourselves, and transforming them into something new. “For this workshop we will use recycled and found material to make our own three-dimensional responses to the world around us. It’s aimed to be something to enjoy, and also to be one more small step towards looking after ourselves in this ever-changing world.”

Wicked problems have a mix of human and technical issues tangled together, and if you try to tackle any one aspect on its own you may actually make the situation worse. But, says Prof. Susan Krumdieck of Heriot-Watt University, some approaches have started to develop. This morning she welcomes you round a table to look at a big problem for Orkney today – how to balance tourism with preserving cultural and natural heritage. “We won’t solve the wicked problem,” she says, “but we will see it in a new way that doesn’t look so wicked.”

The story of Hild, the king’s daughter abducted to Orkney, was long known in Hoy. The Birsay minister Rev. George Low heard it in Foula in 1774 and wrote it down phonetically. Shetland musician Barry Nisbet has now reconstructed the ballad and translated it into the Shaetlan of today – with a ring-dance as well.

How can we improve transport connections to link remote communities together directly, rather than route them through distant centres? That, says Prof. Aseem Kinra, is a key challenge for Logistics, the art and science of moving things: to seek ways to improve connectivity and community cohesion, and reduce energy costs and carbon emissions. PhD researcher Maddie Dowek applies the approach, towards more localised food systems and supply chains.

The story of two men who travelled to Orkney and Shetland to study plants more than two centuries ago – and an opportunity to create new types of botanical records through photographs, drawings, collage and stories. Rebecca Cornwell brings you a selection of their manuscripts and travel journals and asks you to create your own record of a plant growing in the wild, with images and locations and local names. In this way, she says, we see how what is written about plants helps us care for them.

After 35 years and more of ro-ro ferry operation, Orkney’s linkspans are ageing, with the need to detect early signs of corrosion and fatigue. At present the only way to do this is through periodic visual inspections, but now a new project led by Heriot-Watt University is trying out quantum sensors and AI analysis. Prof. Aseem Kinra reports on how partners from the public and private sectors are coming together to help maintain the smooth operation of a key part of Orkney’s maritime transport.

How can Deaf people of all ages be fully involved in all of the climate discussion? A team of Deaf scientists and researchers focused around the University of Edinburgh has put together a climate workshop in British Sign Language (BSL). You will learn many new BSL signs and share knowledge about science and language. The workshop will be presented in BSL with spoken English interpretation.

There’s vertical farming and there’s hydroponic tower farming, and researchers at The James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen are collaborating with UHI Orkney’s Agronomy & Agriculture Institute to find the answer to two key questions – Will they work in practice in Orkney’s diverse communities? And would they be financially viable? The team are providing information on these innovative new systems and the changes they may trigger, and an opportunity to see UHI Orkney’s hydroponic Tower Farms in their Polycrub setting, and they would like to gather your feedback.

Visit the moor at Hobbister where Highland Park cut their peats, and find out about peat bogs and how they are formed, and about what can be done to restore them. The visit will be led by Lewis Robertson of UHI who is managing a current peat management project for the distillery. Its aim is to reduce peat usage at the distillery while developing restoration techniques for shallow peat.

Come and see the range of plants growing in the new tower farm units in UHI Orkney's polycrub – chillies and cucumbers, parsley and lettuces – and hear about the range of possible vertical farming systems. A team of researchers from The James Hutton Institute are collaborating with the Agronomy & Agriculture Institute to find the answer to two key questions. How will these new systems work in Orkney? And would they be financially viable? They are looking for your feedback.

It’s an extraordinary site, with two decades of discoveries and then a hint of even more. By the time of the festival, everything will be covered up again, but we can join Ness of Brodgar director Nick Card on a walk around the site, to learn about its position within a wider landscape, and to hear at first hand the latest news of what they've now found and the new questions opened up.

An introduction to leather working and some of the basic skills required. You will start with ready-cut leather which will be provided and create a purse to wear from your belt. We will look at how to dye the leather, and how to create uniform and straight stitching lines, and how to use a traditional two-needle stitching method to finish your purse, which you will then be able to take away with you.