Island Health & Sustainability Research Conference 2024

The Island Health & Sustainability Conference (Moorea, 2024) gathered researchers, policymakers, community leaders, and conservation practitioners to address the intertwined challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and socio-economic vulnerabilities in French Polynesia. The conference emphasized integrating scientific innovation, traditional ecological knowledge, and community-led initiatives to promote sustainable development. It recognized the role of sustainable tourism as a key economic driver supporting these efforts in many island communities.

Strategic Missions: Eliminating the risk of mosquito-borne diseases on an island by 2030 was showcased as an example of a health and sustainability mission, along with a project designed to address that mission (Mozeroa 2030). The conference agenda was built around other potential missions focused on (1) transforming food systems, (2) advancing marine-based energy and the blue bioeconomy, and (3) enhancing land-sea resilience. Aiming to support the French Polynesia Climate Plan, Innovation Strategy, and Sustainable Development Goals, mission concepts developed during the conference included: reducing imported fertilizer/pesticide and sourcing 25% of school food locally by 2030; reducing reliance on fossil fuels through marine energy innovations; and restoring coastal ecosystems through integrated land-sea management.

Community Decision-Support: A cross-cutting theme identified at the conference was the need for innovative social-technological infrastructures to support ethical decision-making. Discussions highlighted the importance of science-culture dialogue and of digital platforms (e.g., iPlaces) that leverage AI and digital twin technology, while helping communities retain democratic control over evidence used to support public policy. The ambitious missions outlined at the conference require frameworks that promote trust, including:

• Informed Decision-Making: Harness advanced sensing technologies, multimodal data, and predictive modeling to guide restoration projects and marine resource management.

• Community Empowerment: Ensure agency of local stakeholders to contribute, access, and control data (sovereignty) and to participate in the design, implementation, and monitoring of sustainability initiatives (deliberative democracy)

• Collaborative Governance: Support interoperable data systems that align cross-sector partnerships and streamline policy implementation.

Next Steps: The focus ahead is to transform mission-driven goals into actionable place-based programs, positioning French Polynesia as a leader in sustainable island development. The success of the 2024 conference has secured institutional backing as an international event under the auspices of the FP Research, Higher Education and Innovation Council (RESIPOL), and was recognized as a key activity to help operationalize the newly established “French Polynesia Zone Atelier” (CNRS) - part of France’s contribution to Europe’s eLTER network.