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Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States And Subnational Island Jurisdictions – A Report

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Description:

Island jurisdictions are often viewed as vulnerable, poverty-stricken, and destitute, but research shows many of these islands are better described as innovative and entrepreneurial. This three-year project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSRHCC), brings together six representatives of small island states (Iceland, New Zealand, Mauritius, Palau, Cyprus, St. Lucia, and Grenada) and six representatives from non-sovereign, subnational island jurisdictions (Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, La Réunion, Lesbos, Guam, and Tobago). These groups will compare experiences, to see whether statehood is a boon or hindrance when implementing sustainable practices in social-political, cultural-artistic, economic, and environmental areas. The presentation is a report on findings to date, featuring Principal Investigator Dr. Jim Randall (UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, University of Prince Edward Island), Dr. John Telesford (T. A. Marryshow Community College; lead researcher for Grenada), Dr. Preeya Mohan (University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus; lead researcher for Tobago), Dr. Mark Stoddart (Memorial University of Newfoundland; lead researcher for Newfoundland and Labrador), and Dr. Gerard Prinsen (Massey University, New Zealand; project methodology researcher). The session will be chaired by Dr. Laurie Brinklow (Institute of Island Studies, UPEI; lead researcher for Prince Edward Island).

Performers:

Laurie Brinklow

Chair of Island Studies and Sustainability, University of Prince Edward Island

Dr. Laurie Brinklow is Co-ordinator of the UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability and the Institute of Island Studies at University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, Canada, where she facilitates and supports research on sustainable communities on islands around the world, as well as knowledge mobilization and public engagement activities. She also teaches ‘islandness’ in the Master of Arts in Island Studies program and supervises graduate students. She is Secretary of the International Small Island Studies Association and Treasurer of the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation, and is Iceland’s Honorary Consul to Prince Edward Island. A passionate Islander, her PhD research explored people’s attachment to islands by examining 'islandness' in Tasmanian and Newfoundland artists. She is also a published poet, editor, and former book publisher.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report.

Laurie Brinklow

Chair of Island Studies and Sustainability, University of Prince Edward Island

Jim Randall

UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, University of Prince Edward Island

For the past 8 years, Jim Randall has been the Coordinator of the MA Island Studies program at UPEI and the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Institute of Island Studies. He recently started a second four-year term as UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability. Jim is the Principal Investigator of the three-year Sustainable Island Futures research program being discussed in this webinar. This project brings together researchers and practitioners from 12 island states and subnational island jurisdictions (SNIJs) around the world to examine how different systems of governance (and especially the differences between island states and SNIJs) influence approaches to sustainability and sustainable development. In his spare time, Jim has also just completed a Bachelor's-level Introduction Island Studies textbook that should be in print at about the time this webinar takes place.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report.

Jim Randall

UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, University of Prince Edward Island

Dr. John Telesford

Lecturer, T. A. Marryshow Community College

Dr. John Telesford is a Lecturer in the School of Continuing Education at the T. A. Marryshow Community College, St. George, Grenada. His research interest lies at the interface of policy and resource use (focus on energy) in small island states and jurisdictions, leading towards sustainable island futures and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). As an 'Island Researcher', he focuses on topics and have published and consulted in the fields of sustainable energy, climate change, blue/green economy, waste management and the circular economy, resource flows/stocks/services nexus, sustainable tourism, sustainable entrepreneurship and education for sustainable development. His work is concentrated in the Caribbean region.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report.

Dr. John Telesford

Lecturer, T. A. Marryshow Community College

Preeya Mohan

Fellow, University of the West Indies

Dr Preeya Mohan is a Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. She has conducted research on and is widely published in a range of topics focused around Caribbean growth and development, including diversification, natural disasters, extractive industries, firm competitiveness and innovation and entrepreneurship.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report.

Preeya Mohan

Fellow, University of the West Indies

Mark Stoddart

Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Mark C.J. Stoddart is Professor in the Department of Sociology at Memorial University, with research interests in environmental sociology, social movements, and communications and culture. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Industrial Development and Eco-Tourism: Can Oil Extraction and Nature Conservation Co-Exist? (Palgrave). His work appears in a range of international journals, including Global Environmental Change, Energy Research & Social Science, Organization & Environment, Environmental Politics, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Environmental Communication, Mobilities, and Social Movement Studies.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report

Mark Stoddart

Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Gerard Prinsen

Sr. Lecturer, Massey University New Zealand

Gerard Prinsen teaches Development Studies at Massey University New Zealand and is Research Associate at the University of Prince Edward Island (Canada). After a professional career in development practice, he turned ‘pracademic’ and most of his research revolves around local health and education services as spaces where small, rural, or remote communities negotiate their relationships with big metropolitan powers.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report.

Gerard Prinsen

Sr. Lecturer, Massey University New Zealand

Sponsored by:

Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island

The Institute of Island Studies is a research, education, and public policy institute based at the University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown.