Résumé du livre

« Are islands signalling what awaits us ? No question. For these marginal parts of the world are also home to the seeds of change, to empirical or revolutionary solutions. Hot or cold, big or small, close or distant, overpopulated or deserted, pristine or devastated - what islands have in common is their status as finite territorial entities open to experimental ventures. »
Isabelle Autissier

Small islands are in the front line in terms of today's major environmental challenges. Confronted with global warming, rising sea levels and limited food and water resources, island-dwellers are engaging with long-term preservation of their marine heritage, development of clean, renewable energy and the devising of more sustainable modes of consumption : enterprises their mainland counterparts would do well to emulate.

Thus a more sustainable society that takes into account new forms of economies is being invented on islands. Ranging from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Indian Ocean to the icy waters of the far north and south, islanders and grassroots specialists share with us landscapes, cultures and skills, which reflect an extraordinary wealth.

Making no secret of its spirit of hope and optimism, this book is a tribute to island peoples the world over.