Policy Pathways Beyond the Shoreline: Enhancing Resilience and Innovation in Island Economies

This report is a practical guide for national, regional and local policymakers to strengthen evidence-based decision-making for island regions. Drawing on quantitative evidence for 47 European island regions and case studies from Croatia, Greece and Sweden, it analyses how insularity-related constraints such as small size, fragmentation, isolation and physical discontinuity, translate into high transport and service-delivery costs, limited economies of scale, seasonal employment and dependence on external inputs. It shows how these vulnerabilities, compounded by ageing, digitalisation, globalisation and climate change, contribute to weaker outcomes in GDP, productivity and employment, and to elevated public-service costs. The report introduces a hybrid territorial approach to island classification to improve data comparability and policy targeting, proposes methodologies to measure the “cost of insularity”, and sets out recommendations to raise island visibility in national and EU strategies. It concludes with an operational framework for multi-level governance, including island-proofing and implementation tools, and highlights pathways to leverage island assets through innovation, Smart Specialisation and sustainable