INSULA – Interdisciplinary Network for the Sustainability of Islands and Archipelagos
INSULA – Interdisciplinary Network for the Sustainability of Islands and Archipelagos – is a newly established laboratory within the University Centre for International Cooperation (CUCI) at the University of Parma. The initiative was launched by a group of researchers – Martina Giuffrè, Michele Maccari, and Osman Arrobbio – who recognized the unique role that islands and archipelagos can play in understanding and addressing some of the most pressing global challenges of our time.
Rather than seeing islands as marginal or remote spaces, INSULA conceives them as dynamic, complex environments where issues such as climate change, environmental justice, biodiversity loss, migration, tourism, food sovereignty, and cultural hybridity intersect in particularly intense and visible ways. Islands are approached not merely as territories to be studied, but as active spaces of resistance, innovation, and learning – living laboratories that can generate valuable insights and transformative practices applicable also to mainland and metropolitan contexts.
The laboratory brings together scholars from a wide range of disciplines to foster collaboration across research, teaching, international cooperation, and public engagement. From theoretical reflection to applied research, and from educational programs to field-based activities with local communities and institutions, INSULA aims to build interdisciplinary bridges and to promote a critical and situated understanding of insularity.
Grounded in inclusivity and experimentation, INSULA engages with a wide spectrum of interconnected themes — including ecological transition, sustainable tourism, migration, social innovation, and offshore jurisdictions — while remaining open to new and emerging areas of inquiry.
Ultimately, INSULA envisions islands not as isolated dots on the map, but as relational spaces that challenge conventional notions of geography, development, and knowledge — and that inspire new ways of imagining sustainability and solidarity across the planet.
Contacts
INSULA Laboratory Email: insula.cuci@unipr.it
Coordinator: Martina Giuffrè – martina.giuffre@unipr.it
Co-coordinators: Michele Maccari – michele.maccari@unipr.it; Osman Arrobbio – osman.arrobbio@unipr.it