The healthcare system on 50 inhabited Croatian islands is confronted with a complex set of challenges, primarily driven by geographic isolation and social marginalization. In relative terms, considering the geographical differentiation of Croatian islands, we divide them into into large and small, near and offshore islands, each with distinct healthcare needs. These geographical differences are important for understanding the disparities in healthcare access and infrastructure.

The research aimed to evaluate the state of healthcare infrastructure on islands and assess the satisfaction of islanders with the quality and accessibility of healthcare services. Given the geographic diversity of the islands, their distinct demographic, socio-economic characteristics, and complex administrative structures, the study sought to categorize the islands based on the development of their healthcare systems and to propose targeted solutions for addressing critical deficiencies that limit islanders’ access to adequate healthcare. Furthermore, the research identified the most pressing shortcomings and highlighted the services that islanders deem essential for their well-being and sustainable living on the islands.

The methodology encompasses a thorough analysis of healthcare facilities across islands, focusing on identifying service provision gaps relative to island size and distance from the mainland. This is complemented by a survey of nearly 500 respondents. The survey collected insights into the state of healthcare infrastructure on the islands and examined islanders' perceptions of different facets of healthcare services.

The research findings indicate that social marginalization exacerbates healthcare disparities on Croatian islands. Island residents express dissatisfaction with the state of healthcare services and infrastructure on the islands. Residents are unhappy with the inadequate equipment in the medical clinics and fear that doctors may leave the islands due to poor working conditions. They view the Ministry of Health as primarily responsible for the state of healthcare, followed by local governments. Another challenge to the sustainable development of islands is the seasonal strain on the healthcare system caused by tourism, which reduces the availability of services during peak periods. The research seeks to offer insights into potential policy solutions that could improve healthcare provision across islands, especially for the most vulnerable and remote communities.

Islands and archipelagos are often considered as laboratories, with their apparent isolation deemed to be an ideal condition for research. But their isolation is as much a social construction as a reality. Cabo Verde (CV), an island nation in the Atlantic, off Western Africa and a former Portuguese colony, since the beginning of its inhabitation has been shaped by its connections with other places. An arid archipelago with limited agricultural potential – and a colonial history of non-exploitation of this potential –, CV has suffered over centuries from cyclical droughts, the absence of effective policies to guarantee food security by Portugal and mortal famines as a consequence. Since shortly before their independence, the islands have greatly benefited from large investments in food imports which today cover 85-90% of demand, achieving a socio-economic condition in which hunger since 1949, is not, any more, a recurring phenomenon. At the same time, CV’s greater social well-being depends on processes of global development and economic growth – e.g., a global food system – which are at the basis of the global socio-ecological crisis which today again threatens not only CV’s food security. The article explores this contradictory situation, scrutinising the meaning of concepts like food sovereignty and food security, the role of local production and food trade, in the context of CV’s condition of interconnected islandness.

This contribution presents reflections and findings from "Islands 4 Future," an interdisciplinary project conducted firstly on the island of Ponza (Italy), and later transferred to other insular contexts. It involves geographers, anthropologists, and pedagogists, aiming to define a research model exploring the proactive role of younger generations in addressing the marginalization of micro-insular territories and enhancing their cultural heritage.

The research posits that challenging monoseasonal tourist exploitation and the structural weaknesses of local agency—exemplified by Ponza—requires integrating education in sustainability and environmental care with the promotion of local heritage. A forward-looking approach is essential, emphasizing the active agency of young people towards the construction of future opportunities and valorization pathways.

The project developed through five phases:
a) bibliographic research to create an interdisciplinary framework and thematic library;
b) analysis of EU, national, and regional policies on local development, marginalization, youth, and education, exploring the interaction between micro and macro levels;
c) ethnographic fieldwork in Ponza to study its specific context;
d) participatory workshops with high school students on Ponza and the Venice archipelago, including a program to create a collaborative film reflecting perceptions of the island’s cultural heritage;
e) extension of the framework to other micro-islands, such as Elba.

This research trajectory across various island contexts offers insights into the perspectives of young people on Italian small islands, both adolescents and young adults. Moreover, it creates a virtual archipelago (#OurCommonIslandFuture); an inter-island network connecting youth from different but comparable contexts. Inter-island dialogue proves vital for developing shared protocols, transferring results, and adapting the models to other cases.

The contribution highlights outcomes such as a digital atlas of Italy’s small islands and creative methodological tools developed during the process, such as participatory cartography and filmmaking. It aims to present a replicable toolkit for similar projects, recognizing that effective political strategies must shift from macro to micro scales. Empowering young people as key agents is essential for shaping sustainable futures of small islands.

Who cares? This is a timely question amidst the growing care crisis across Europe, driven by political and socio-economic changes, such as neoliberal state reforms, ageing populations, and rising living costs. The care crisis highlights the increasing precarity of care systems and labor, and stresses the impact of austerity, privatisation, and commodification of care services, and the growing deficit in informal care. It is an intersectional crisis that widens gender, racial, and socio-economic inequalities, and its far-reaching impacts affect everyone. The overarching aim of this project is to gain an in-depth and holistic understanding of how the care crisis materialises in different locations and contexts. Our main question is: how does the care crisis shape the situated, emplaced impacts and everyday experiences of social care?

Care has proven to be challenging to address, both in theory and practice. It is a complex and, at times, conflicting concept. It cuts across different dimensions of life, from daily routines to moments of crisis. Care is both paid and unpaid practices, comprising a dialectic relationship between formal services like institutional elderly care and informal support among community members. Therefore, rather than examining pre-defined conceptualisations of care, this project begins with the lived realities and experiences of the everyday. Furthermore, a critical infrastructure lens is applied, which perceives care as both a physical, material, institutional, and embodied infrastructure that sustains everyday life.

We specifically look to (small) islands for two reasons. Firstly, the pressure on social care is exacerbated due to their isolation, both physical, economic, social, and political, and significant demographic shifts. Secondly, islands' confined environments make them ideal for studying complex social phenomena and understanding local impacts of global changes, which can provide valuable insights for care in other regions. This is a longer project that will comprise three different island cases, the Faroe Islands, Lesvos (Greece), and the Wadden Islands (the Netherlands). The first empirical work will start in early spring 2025, and will provide qualitative, comprehensive and nuanced insights into the complexity of changing everyday care infrastructures and their intersections with island contexts.