A Framework for Participatory Impact Assessment is presented for use within European land use policy impact assessment. The context and rationale for the development of the Framework are outlined, both in the context of European policy making and within a project called "Sustainability Impact Assessment: Tools for Environmental, Social and Economic Effects of Multifunctional Land Use in European Regions". A detailed description of the sequence of methods that make up the Framework is provided, followed by illustrations and details of the practical application and results from a case study in Malta, where the Framework was used to carry out an impact assessment of biodiversity policies. After reporting on the reflections of the research team and valuable feedback provided by Maltese stakeholders, the Framework's ability to enhance the quality, credibility and legitimacy of European policy impact assessment is discussed.

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The sustainability challenges faced by islands in the European Union (EU) are not well reflected in EU policy, where the approach to island issues has been incremental and fragmented. This paper identifies EU islands and their main sustainability issues, and argues for a stronger awareness of island issues in EU policy processes. It notes in particular the current restrictive definition of islands, which excludes island states, and the fact that the issues of peripherality and insularity do not fit into any of the categories provided in the EU’s impact assessment guidelines. Moreover, since European islands are found at various administrative scales, there is a lack of harmonized statistical data on fundamental factors necessary for monitoring their sustainable development.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have been impacted by and responded to COVID-19 in ways that give us clues about vulnerabilities under climate change, as well as pathways to resilience. Here, we reflect on some of these experiences drawing on case study examples from the Caribbean, Pacific, and Indian Ocean SIDS, exploring how SIDS have responded to COVID-19 and considering the potential for coping mechanisms enacted for the pandemic to support long-term resilience to climate change. Island responses to the pandemic highlight both new directions, like tourist schemes that capitalize on the rise of remote working in Barbados and Mauritius, and reliance on tried and tested coping mechanisms, like bartering in Fiji. Some of the actions undertaken to respond to the pressures of the pandemic, such as visa schemes promoting "digital nomadism" and efforts to grow domestic food production, have climate resilience and equity dimensions that must be unpacked if their potential to contribute to more sustainable island futures is to be realized. Importantly, the diversity of contexts and experiences described here illustrates that there is no single "best" pathway to climate-resilient post-pandemic futures for SIDS. While the emerging rhetoric of COVID-19 recovery often speaks of "roadmaps," we argue that the journey towards a climate-resilient COVID-19 recovery for SIDS is likely to involve detours, as solutions emerge through innovation and experiment, and knowledge-sharing across the wider SIDS community.