During this year’s Island Finance Forum, the finalists and winners of the inaugural Island Innovation Awards were announced in a special ceremony involving representatives from the Clinton Global Initiative, the Earthshot Prize, and members of the judging panel.
Launched by President Bill Clinton at last year’s Virtual Island Summit, the Island Awards seek to identify and reward island leaders and changemakers across twelve different categories. As an official nominator for the £1 million Earthshot Prize rewarding projects enacting widespread environmental action, Island Innovation has also put forward several of the winners for consideration.
Hundreds of individuals vied for one of the twelve awards, providing judges with a deep pool of talented individuals and worthy projects to choose from. Winners of this inaugural Island Innovation Awards hail from 11 different islands around the world, and their projects have had a wide-ranging impact on their own local communities and internationally. You will find below the list of winners and their projects and full information on the winners and finalists can be found here.
“This inaugural Island Innovation Awards has been an amazing showcase of island talent from all across the world, and a huge success that we are very proud of,” said James Ellsmoor, CEO of Island Innovation.
“Congratulations to all of our excellent finalists and winners, which represent an impressive range of initiatives from around the world. We received over 330 applications and nominations, which is fantastic, especially considering that it is the first edition of the Awards. Thank you to everyone who attended the ceremony, to our awards partners, the Clinton Global Initiative, and to our esteemed panel of judges.”
Future Island Leader
Ronelle King, for Life In Leggings: Caribbean Alliance Against Gender-based Violence
Location: Barbados
Island Innovator
Radhames Carela for Wine To Water Dominican Republic and its Ceramic Water Filter
Location: Dominican Republic
Sustainable Energy Initiative of the Year
Scaling Smart, Solar, Energy Access Microgrids in Haiti by EarthSpark International
Location: Haiti
Resilient Island
Marine Megafauna Conservation Organization’s educational programme in South East Mauritius as part of their main Project “Conservation threatened marine megafauna species in Mauritius”.
Location: Mauritius
Women SDG Leadership
Gina Ebanks-Petrie, Director, Department of Environment, Cayman Islands Government
Location: Cayman Islands
Sustainable Company of the Year
Island Green Living Association
Location: St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Most Transformational Government Sustainability Initiative
Food Tourism and Agritourism Initiative (FTAI) (Produktif Turism Blong Yumi Initiative), part of the Vanuatu Department of Tourism’s Sustainable Tourism Strategy
Location: Vanuatu
COVID-19 Response
Reach Within: Getting to the root of childhood trauma, simply, by Reach Within
Location: Grenada
Innovative Island Research
Agricultural genebank research by Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePACT) operated by the Pacific Community (SPC)’s Land Resources Division.
Location: Viti Levu, Fiji
Blue Economy Initiative
Regenerative seaweed farming and net recycling linked to improved Marine Protected Areas (iMPA) by Coast 4C
Location: 10 small island villages in the Philippines across the central and western Visayas, and expanding to a further 20 small island villages.
Green Finance and Investment
CARICOM Development Fund for their Credit Risk Abatement Facility (CRAF)
Location: Barbados
Most Impactful Island Innovation Ambassadors
Alfredo M. Coro II, Municipal Mayor, Municipality of Del Carmen, Siargao Islands, Philippines
Location: Siargao Island, Philippines
Maria Chnaraki (Hnaraki), Adjunct Professor, Drexel University
Location: Crete, Greece
