Places of great beauty, rich cultures, and diverse ecosystems, islands captivate the hearts of residents and visitors alike. However the size and isolation of small island developing states (SIDS) make them vulnerable to significant economic and environmental pressures as well. While UNESCO invited the international community to meet in Barbados in 1994 to develop a program of action and in Mauritius in 2005 to create a strategy of implementation, additional research and policy proposals which address the cross-sectoral challenges encountered by SIDS in their efforts to generate sustainable development are needed.

The Small Island States Foundation (SISF) is a private sector “think tank” whose purpose is to encourage and support applied research into the challenges of sustainable development (economic, environmental, social, and cultural) confronted by small island states, with a particular focus on economic development. The Foundation is the charitable fund-raising arm of Islands of the World Fashion Showcase and Mode Îles Ltd and will provide grants to eligible researchers and agencies in relevant fields, and will publish reports and provide the appropriate forum for the discussion of these issues.

SISF will network with leading experts whose research and inquiry seeks to understand the complex challenges faced by small island states, with the paramount goal of proposing proactive, concrete solutions. In so doing SISF will endeavor to become a focal point for institutionalizing a process of confronting these unique but often complementary issues.

Potential areas of research focus include:

• Case studies of SIDS best practices vis-à-vis economic development, governance, capacity building, and environmental sustainability, and how these areas interplay with and affect one another
• Sustainable economic development as a tool for poverty alleviation
• The impact of climate change on economic development and the effects of economic development on the environment
• The impact of HIV/AIDS and other pandemic diseases on economic development
• How SIDS might use information technologies to leapfrog the development cycle
• Using capacity building and the educational sector to diminish the brain drain
• Globalization, SIDS, and trade
• Energy solutions for Small Island States
• How national culture can enhance the ability of SIDS to effectively respond to the challenges of sustainable development

The Foundation’s staff and research support will cover the following key regions:

ATLANTIC	CARIBBEAN	INDIAN	MEDITERANEAN	PACIFIC
Azores Bermuda* Canary Islands Cape Verde Channel Islands: Guernsey* & Jersey* Falkland Islands* Faeroe Islands* Greenland* Iceland Isle of Man* Madeira St. Helena* Sao Tome & Principe *Overseas Territories & Dependencies	Anguilla* Antigua & Barbuda Aruba* Bahamas Barbados Cayman Islands* Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Grenada Guadeloupe* Haiti Jamaica Martinique* Montserrat* Netherlands Antilles* Puerto Rico* St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent & Grenadines Trinidad & Tobago Turks & Caicos Islands* Virgin Islands (UK)* Virgin Islands (US)*	Bahrain Comoros Madagascar Maldives Mauritius Reunion* Seychelles Sri Lanka	Cyprus Gibraltar* Malta	American Samoa* Brunei Cook Islands* East Timor Fiji Islands French Polynesia* Guam* Hawaii* Indonesia Kiribati Macao* Malaysia Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru Niue* New Caledonia* Northern Mariana Island* Palau Papua New Guinea Philippines Pitcairn Islands* Samoa Singapore Solomon Islands Taiwan Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Wallis & Futuna*

A major emphasis will be placed on the implementation of the ideas and proposals SISF sponsors. The primary audience for this research and analysis will include policy makers, government officials, business and labor leaders, management and staff at international organizations, other research institutions and nongovernmental organizations, university scholars and their students, the media, and the general public.

Funding and grant support will initially come through a donation from the proceeds of the Islands of the World Fashion Showcase, combined with resources solicited from other bodies, including a wide range of charitable foundations, governments, private corporations and individuals. Applications for grants from qualified scholars and institutions to research issues of relevance to a specific small island state, and which also have implications for policies in other island states, will be actively solicited.