Sustainable Islands: Insular Universities’ Projects for the Development and Safeguarding of Territories, Culture and Environment – A Comparison Between Sardinia and Canaries

Sustainability, meant as a key determinant of a decent socio-environmental heritage for future generations, is particularly impacting as far as peripheral and insular territories are concerned, which are usually overlooked by international networks and policies. This contribution aims to compare Italy and Spain regarding sustainable policies adopted by Sardinian and Canarian, first via a Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) outlook on the regulatory competences of the examined islands, on matters related to sustainability, even if marginally. Afterwards, the role of the involved HEIs in implementing projects for the development of the territories and the protection of environmental peculiarities will be highlighted, where islands have several geomorphological and environmental distinctive traits in a limited area. Finally, a comparison between operational projects of Sardinian and Canarian HEIs will be made, on the activities aiming at both environmental protection and cultural sustainability. This contribution aims to focus on the importance of the role played by HEIs to put into practice the links and interconnections between the concepts of sustainability and development, matched with insular peculiarities; it also highlights how every single island needs a specific, different project, customised depending on the single territorial distinctiveness. About this, a further comparison of the projects of two Sardinian HEIs (located in the North and South of Sardinia) and the projects of each Canarian university will be made.