Photo from cleantechpei.princeedwardisland.ca

In May 2024, Island Innovation co-organised the Global Sustainable Islands Summit 2024, with the Government of Prince Edward Island (Canada). The team put together a remarkable agenda gathering professionals, researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders from around the world to discuss innovative solutions and advancements in sustainable energy, renewable technologies, energy efficiency, and environmental stewardship for islands.

A highlight of the Summit was sponsoring students who completed our “Best-Practice Skills for Sustainable Development in the SIDS” training course (developed in collaboration with Our Shared Ocean, Government of Ireland). These SIDS students, some from remote island communities, traveled with the Island Innovation team to Prince Edward Island (Canada) to attend a workshop session at the Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation. They also participated in a Summit session, sharing their learnings and perspectives on strategies to integrate early-career researchers’ contributions to sustainable solutions for island communities.

Excerpt from cleantechpei.princeedwardisland.ca

David O’Sullivan, was one of over 50 dignitaries who took part recently in the 2024 Global Sustainable Islands Summit.

A native of the Ireland, David works for the Marine Institute of Ireland and with support from government the Institute supports the Our Shared Ocean funding program.

The Summit hosted Island governments from around the world to discuss topics such as sustainability, climate adaptation and green energy.

“Ireland is an island, and it has had great success over the last 30 years,” said O’Sullivan. That success has been achieved through research, through innovation and as a result, “we have a pretty good knowledge of our marine environment. And we’d like to be able to share that with other island nations as best we can, understanding that small island states can’t tackle all these issues alone.”

As the program manager at Our Shared Ocean, O’Sullivan works closely with small island developing states to help build research partnerships in certain climate areas.