A conclusion from a previous ESPON seminar on archipelagos and small islands in Sweden was that there is a great need for reliable statistics and facts. OECD also points this out in connection with a European project where Gotland and Öckerö participated. Unfortunately, relevant data with sufficiently high resolution is often lacking. To promote cooperation and collaboration between different societal levels and stakeholders and to ensure well-founded decisions affecting islands, the factual basis needs to be improved. During the seminar, we showed three examples on how to generate data, statistics and facts on small islands. To achieve a long-term solution, ESPON methods and knowledge have been and will be used.  

Knowledge base from ESPON (BRIDGES, LAKES, DESIRE), EU/OECD, and Granular were used in the planning of the seminar