PROGRAM 
(PRINTABLE PDF)

Monday, November 13 ― 14:00–21:00

14:30-17:30 Haikou Tour
19:00-21:00 Welcome Reception

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Tuesday, November 14 ― 08:30–21:00 ― DAY ONE at the Haikou Hilton

08:30-09:00 Registration and Refreshments
09:00-09:00 Welcome Remarks

09:30-12:30 SESSION 1:
Conceptualizing and Evaluating Models of Island Economies

Chair/Discussant#1: Dr. James RANDALL, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada

• Huan ZHANG, Zhejiang University
  A primary exploration of the concept “Beautiful Island Tourism Belt” of the New Marine Silk Road strategy
• Godfrey BALDACCHINO, University of Malta, Malta
  The policy challenges faced by subnational island jurisdiction
• Aiping FENG, Island Research Centre, State Oceanic Administration, China
  Study of island city industrial structures-Based on a comparison between Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone, Fujian Province and Xiamen
• Geoff BERTRAM, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, University of Wellington, New Zealand
  Conceptualizing and evaluating models of island economies
• Jiting SUN, Marine Economy Research Center of Shandong Province, China
  Enlightenment of Australian Recreational Fishery Development

Discussant#2: Mr. Yuchao YAN, Grandview Institution, China

12:30-14:00 Lunch

14:00-17:00 SESSION 2:
Measuring (Economic) Success on Islands

Chair/Discussant#1: Dr. Xuedong WANG,  Institute of Advanced International Studies, Sun Yat-Sen University, China

• Lino BRIGUGLIO, University of Malta, Malta
  The relation between economic resilience and competitiveness with a focus on small states: Evidence from global indicators
• Xiaohui WANG, National Marine Data and Information Service, SOA, China
  Comprehensive evaluation of the “Blue Economy” and the Island Economy
• Leo-Paul DANA, Montpellier Business School, Montpellier, France
  Subnational island jurisdictions, entrepreneurship & change: The case of St. Martin
• Yuchao YAN, Grandview Institution, China
  Concerns and Suggestions of Island Economic Development for Small Island Developing Nation
• James RANDALL, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada
  Building a measure of economic change for subnational island jurisdictions: Conceptual and empirical challenges

Discussant#2: Dr. Geoff BERTRAM, University of Wellington, New Zealand

17:00-19:00 Free time for participants
19:00-21:00 Symposium Dinner and Entertainment

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Wednesday, November 15 ― 09:00–16:30 ― DAY TWO at the Haikou Hilton

08:45-9:30 
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Agricultural and Rural Issues on Islands in a period of global change

Chair: Dr. Desheng ZHANG, School of Economics and Management, Hainan University, China

• Dr. David BARKER, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica
  Agricultural and Rural Issues on Islands in a Period of Global Change

Discussant: Dr. Godfrey BALDACCHINO, University of Malta

09:30-12:30 
SESSION 3: Local to Global Factors Influencing Island Economies

Chair/Discussant#1: Dr. David BARKER, University of the West Indies, Jamaica

• Rob GREENWOOD, Leslie Harris Centre for Regional Policy and Development, Memorial University, Canada
  Connecting local and regional development strategies and structures with national and international opportunities and threats: Lessons from Newfoundland, Canada
• Dongni HE, Vice President, China Institute for Reform and Development, China
  The impact of economic openness on the Hainan island economy
• John OVERTON and Dr. Warwick MURRAY, School of Geography, Environment and Earth Science, Victoria University of Wellington (to be presented by Dr. Gerard PRINSEN)
  Aid and sovereignty: Neostructuralism, retroliberalism and the recasting of relationships in Oceania
• D Zuocheng WANG, Faculty of Foreign Language and Foreign History, Liaocheng University, China
  Economic cooperation between China and Pacific island nations in the context of climate change

Discussant#2: Dr. Aiping FENG, Island Research Centre, State Oceanic Administration, China

12:30-14:00 Lunch

14:00-17:00

SESSION 4: Comparing the Economic Past, Present and Futures of Small Island States (SISs) and Subnational Island Jurisdictions (SNIJs)

Chair/Discussant#1: Dr. Jiting SUN, Marine Economy Research Center of Shandong Province, China

• Jing WANG, National Marine Data and Information Service, SOA, China
  Research on the development and problems of island economies in China
• David REZVANI, Resident Research Scholar & Lecturer, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
  Anarchy, hierarchy or negarchy?: Order and disorder amidst sovereign state and partially independent territory control
• Desheng ZHANG, School of Economics and Management, Hainan University, China
  Industrial Structure Transition and Economic Growth of Hainan Province since Its Establishment
• Gerard PRINSEN, Massey University, New Zealand
  Islanders crafting a new sovereignty: Five mechanisms and four ingredients
• Xuedong WANG, Institute of Advanced International Studies, Sun Yat-Sen University, China
  Small Is Beautiful?: A comparative study between island economies and sub–island economies in low-carbonization development

Discussant#2: Dr. Rob GREENWOOD, Memorial University, Canada

17:00-17:30 Conference Closing

Island States/Island Territories:
Sharing Stories of Island Life, Governance and Global Engagement

The 1st International Conference on
Small Island States (SIS) and Sub-National Island Jurisdictions (SNIJs)

Location: The Shared (Dutch/French) Island of Sint Maarten/St Martin
Venue: The University of St Martin, Philipsburg
Dates: 12-14 March 2018

Supported by the UNESCO Co-Chairs in Island Studies and Sustainability, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada/University of Malta, and The University of St Martin, Philipsburg

CALL FOR PAPERS

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) comprise a significant and vocal lobby of sovereign island states: of late, they have been especially active on the ‘climate change’ front, and have secured global media attention to (and much sympathy with) their predicament as likely victims of global warming and sea level rise at UNFCCC COP 15 in Copenhagen (2009) and again at COP 21 in Paris (2015).

To this well organized and visible category, it is time to acknowledge another, much less organized and much less visible, but even more numerous: that consisting of SNIJs: subnational island jurisdictions.

SNIJs, and their residents, have their own stories to tell, particularly in how they have navigated the always tortuous, often tense, relationships with their metropolitan powers and governments. In many cases, these non-sovereign territories have shied away from outright independence, even when this option was encouraged by their respective metropole. Instead, they have opted for federalist arrangements that offer varying degrees of autonomy and self-determination, while maintaining important ‘provisions’ from their ‘mainland’: defence, welfare, international representation, citizenship and mobility rights.

We propose the first even conference to discuss life, governance and global engagement on, for and with SIDS and SNIJs. We do so by encouraging conversations and presentations that engage critically with multiple levels of ‘island living’:

• The unfolding of daily life on small island states and/or territories, involving the challenges of securing decent livelihoods and navigating the opportunities and threats of living on small island jurisdictions. These include: coping with monopolistic services; tightly networked communities; partisan politics; flight and ferry schedules; the strategic resort to migration.

• The role of institutions, whether public or private (including NGOs and commercial) on small island states and/or territories in facilitating, exploiting, or guarding against the spaces and practices created by globalization. What development strategies are preferred? How best to avoid over-dependence on one main export product or service (typically tourism)? How best to promote innovation and entrepreneurship? How to avoid uneven development and centrifugal tensions, especially in archipelagic jurisdictions?

• The role of national and regional elites and interest groups, including political parties and governments, in seeking to take maximum advantage of sovereignty (in island states) or non-sovereignty (in island territories), as the case may be. Initiatives to discuss include: nation-building, constitutional reform, regionalization (as with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) and diaspora engagement.

We want to share stories. We welcome submissions that look at these dynamics on a case by case, or island by island, basis, and from different disciplinary standpoints. We are especially keen to engage with presentations that adopt a more comparative framework or methodology in their critical analysis.

For example: to what extent are SNIJs less autonomous and sovereign than SIDS? Why has the impetus for small island independence stalled since 1984? Why are there island independence referenda planned only for the SNIJs of New Caledonia and Bougainville? Are UK SNIJs more autonomous than French or Dutch ones? Is offshore banking better regulated on SIDS than SNIJs? Can SIDS and SNIJs just as competently achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals? Is there better climate change preparedness in sovereign island states (because of localised decision making) or in non-sovereign ones (because of easier access to metropolitan funding)? Etc.

Abstracts of around 150 words each are invited on any of the above themes. These should be accompanied by the full name and institutional affiliation of the author/s. They should be submitted electronically to: iis@upei.ca by not later than Sunday, October 1, 2017.

RATIONALE