The Smart Island Initiative is live!
The Smart Islands Initiative advocates for a holistic development approach one that “derives from insularity, the condition that forces island authorities to focus on how to ensure the optimal use and management of their resources and infrastructures, very often within island boundaries, in order to support sustainable and equitable economic development that fully taps into islands’ local potential (geography, natural and human resources, products)”
#NEWS 1: We have a website http://www.smartislandsinitiative.eu, FB and Twitter account. Please spread the news!!!
#NEWS 2: The highlight of the Smart Island Declaration event on the 28 March in Brussels is that we expect European Commissioner for Climate and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete to open the Smart Islands Declaration and address the signing ceremony!
#VERY IMPORTANT . We now have 200 organisations and Local authorities throughout the EU who have signed up to the Initiative and plan to attend the Brussels event. This is good news as the European Commission is promoting a programme for sustainable energy on islands to be announced by the end of 2017. This means funds for islands!!!
In this context, the Commission sees the Smart Island Initiative in a very positive way because this is 1) European and 2) bottom-up. 1+2 are key ingredients for the Commission programme to be successful. The synergies are there, waiting to be exploited!
#SMART ISLAND INITIATIVE SCOTLAND. Most Local Authorities with islands responsibilities have signed up to the initiative: Highland, Argyll and Bute, North Ayrshire have send letters of support with Shetland Islands Council leading the way by signing the Declaration itself! Island Development trusts that have benefited from European funding for their renewable energy scheme like the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust have also send letters of support. Likewise, Renewable Energy Academic bodies Strathclyde University and NGOs like Community Energy Scotland have also given their support alongside the Scottish Islands Federation and the European Islands Federation (ESIN) .