Flores, Indonesia’s 'priest island'
| | LONDON, UK, 22 October 2026 (TW) - Flores is home to multiple seminaries, training thousands of young men in Catholic liturgy, religious doctrine and pastoral care. Through “their early morning prayers, their long days of study, and their shared meals cooked over simple stoves, they carry forward a vocation” that lives on. |
Nevis to restore Alexander Hamilton museum with US funds
| | HAVANA, Cuba, 21 October 2026 (AP) - St. Kitts and Nevis has received a financial boost in honor of one of its most famous sons, Alexander Hamilton, who went on to become a founding father of the U.S. and America’s first treasury secretary. |
Japan, US launch drills focusing on islands near Taiwan
| | TOKYO, Japan, 21 October 2026 (TT) - Japanese and US troops on Monday started one of their largest joint exercises focusing on the defense of Japan’s southwestern islands and showcasing advanced weapons systems in the face of growing tension in the region. About 45,000 Japanese troops and 12,000 US service members are participating in the biennial Keen Sword 27. Seven other nations from the Indo-Pacific region and Europe are also taking part in some elements of the exercises, five of them - France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the Philippines - for the first time, the Japanese Joint Staff Office said. |
This Norwegian village is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth
| | LONGYEARBYEN, Norway, 21 October 2026 (Guardian) - On a rugged mountain plateau of snow-dusted rocks, in the remote archipelago of Svalbard, a glaciologist, Andy Hodson, points out the “ears” of ice, white against the rock, that gave Foxfonna glacier its name, after the arctic fox. But in Svalbard, where glaciers cover 57% of the land and temperatures are rising up to seven times faster than the global average, making it one of the fastest-warming places on Earth, Foxfonna is changing rapidly. |
Making 30x30 count for nature and people
| | GLAND, Switzerland, 20 October 2026 (IUCN) - Launched at CBD COP17, the IUCN Global Standard for Effective and Equitable Protected and Conserved Areas – the IUCN Global PCA Standard – gives every protected and conserved area a common framework to assess, improve and demonstrate performance. |
Indigenous protest against projects on Indonesia’s 'geothermal island'
| | JAKARTA, Indonesia, 20 October 2026 (D+C) - On the Indonesian volcanic island of Flores, a state-owned company is pushing ahead with controversial geothermal projects in the name of climate neutrality. The Indigenous groups living there are protesting, calling for greater involvement – and the German development bank KfW has suspended its funding following criticism. |
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CBD |
 | | COP16 21 Oct-1 Nov, 2024, Cali, Colombia |
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UNFCCC |
| | COP29 11-22 November, 2024, Baku, Azerbaijan |
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ISLAND DYNAMICS |
| | DARKNESS II conference, 20-23 January 2025, Nuuk, Greenland |
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JICAS |
| | Islands And Island Studies conference 3-7 June, 2025, Jersey, Channel Islands |
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UNITED NATIONS |
| | UN Ocean Conference 9-13 June, 2025, Nice, France |
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UPEI |
| | 3rd international conference on SIS and SNIJs 16-20 June, 2025, Charlottetown, PEI |
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ARCTIC COUNCIL |
| | UArctic Congress 26-29 May 2026, Torshavn, Faroe Islands |
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SICRI |
| | Island Studies International Conference 25-28 June, 2026, Tacloban City, Leyte Islands, Philippines |
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WORLD ISLANDS FAIR |
| | The world’s first international event themed around islands 5 Sept-4 Nov, 2026, Yeosu, South Korea |
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SPREP |
| | 11th Pacific Islands Conference for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas, 7–11 September 2026, Noumea, New Caledonia |
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ANATOMY OF ISLANDS |
| | 14th Anatomy of Islands symposium 15-17 Oct, 2026, Jelsa, Hvar Island, Croatia |
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SOCIETY OF ISLAND BIOLOGY |
| | 5th Island Biology conference 2-6 November, 2026, Atami City, Japan |
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IWRA |
| | 2nd Islands Water Congress 27-29 Jan, 2027, Montego Bay, Jamaica |
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ISISA |
| | 21st Islands of the Word Conference 6-10 June, 2027, Willemstad, Curacao |
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