Working Groups

This WG will evaluate the relation between biodiversity and natural capital on small-medium islands. This will be achieved by: i) building a database on presence, abundance and distribution of insular biodiversity in Europe (habitats and taxonomic groups); ii) building a database with direct and indirect current and future threats for islands' natural capital; and iii) performing an assessment of natural assets on islands. 

Prof Emilio Padoa Schioppa, Leader (University of Milano-Bicocca)

Dr Dejan Mandzukovski, Co-Leader (Department for Forest Management Planning, PE “Nacionalni šumi”, North Macedonia)

This WG will provide an overview of the status of and trends in European island ecosystem services, accounting for all three environments (terrestrial, freshwater, marine), by: (i) compiling existing data on the biophysical and socio-economic value of ecosystem services, (ii) identifying the key drivers of change for services, (iii) exploring future threats and opportunities to service supply, and (iv) developing sustainable strategies to protect and enhance ecosystem services linked to human well-being. 

Dr Evangelia Drakou, Leader (Harokopio University, Greece)

Dr Javier Martínez-López, Co-Leader (University of Granada, Spain)

LU/CC are the main drivers on island environments. In close collaboration with other WGs, WG3 will assess projected global change impacts on European islands. Its objectives are to (1) perform an integrated LU/CC assessment on European islands (Tasks 3.1– 3.3) and (2) evaluate the relationship between LU & CC interaction and ES provision in European islands (Tasks 3.3). These activities will benefit from (and feed into) the LUCAS CORDEX FPS (https://www.hzg.de/ms/cordex_fps_lucas/index.php.en).

Dr Aristides Moustakas, Leader (Natural History Museum of Crete, Greece)

Dr Georgios Zittis, Co-Leader (The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus)

Dr Mirela Mango (Tase), Co-Leader (Aleksander Moisiu University, Albania)

The challenge of pursuing economic development whilst providing co-benefits to biodiversity and people is particularly felt in islands, which depend on external markets and tourism and are susceptible to natural disasters and climate change whilst having a constrained adaptation capacity. NbS can be used to tackle key societal challenges whilst avoiding or mitigating the negative impacts of local and global stressors that threaten ES of small-medium islands.

Prof Mart Külvik, Leader (Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonia)

Dr Shiri Zemah-Shamir, Co-Leader (IDC Herzliya, Israel)

Prof Stoyan Nedkov, Co-leader (National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography, Bulgaria)

This WG will identify key aspects of major policy instruments (at EU and national levels) that reflect island sensitivity and contribute to building future island resilience. Based on this evaluation, it will provide recommendations on policy instruments improvement with special emphasis on the interaction of policies across and within different administrative levels and sectors (multi-governance approach). 

Dr Catarina Fonseca, Leader (ccE3c – Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Portugal)

Dr Peter Mackelworth, Co-Leader (Institute for Tourism, Croatia)

Dr Liana Ricci, Co-Leader (University College Dublin, Ireland)

This WG is dedicated to the successful communication and dissemination of the findings of the other WGs by promoting an effective transfer of existing knowledge and practices and facilitate a better communication among research-policy-public sectors which is a core objective of SMILES Action. The aim of this WG is to ensure that all the deliverables and project outputs produced in WGs 1-5 are relevant for the stakeholders involved in this project and beyond, through continuous participation in project activities. Specific attention will be paid (1) to develop a tailored communication strategy which will fit to the target groups (scientific community, policy makers and different stakeholders and general public), (2) to fill in the communication gaps among target groups by promoting a common “language” (by promoting and translating the incorporating vocabulary on ES developed in WG 6 in at least 6 EU languages; and (3) enhance and increase accessibility to the scientific knowledge related to natural capital and management in small-medium islands by developing and implementing a research strategy. The final conference will engage different stakeholders by providing a suitable venue for scientific presentations, but also forums and artistic expressions (see description of the plan in 3.2.2). 

Dr Paraskevi Manolaki , Leader (Open University of Cyprus, Cyprus)