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This study aims to focus on the nexus between off-grid systems and impacts on islands and remote villages in Ghana by investigating the sources and cost of energy, willingness to pay for electricity and impacts of off-grid energy on the local economy, education, health, social activities, the environment and migration.

Data were obtained from 110 households; heterogeneous impact analysis of off-grid technologies, average treatment effect by inverse probability weights (IPW) and inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) models were used to analyse the data.

The sources of energy are gas, kerosene, wood fuel and dry-cell battery. All households in communities with neither electricity nor off-grid system were willing to pay for electricity. Households without off-grid systems (US$8.1) were willing to pay higher amounts per month for electricity. The off-grid technologies improve the local economy, social activities, security, the environment, education and health as well as reduce out-migration.

Most of the literature on mini-grid/off-grid systems have been from the engineering and the technical perspective, with a few on the socioeconomic impacts of the systems and consumer engagements. Besides, methods including descriptive statistics, energy technology sustainability framework and qualitative analysis were used in these studies. Nevertheless, the authors used a more rigorous method of the doubly robust inverse probability weighted regression adjustment model and a heterogeneous method to model the impact analysis of off-grid systems.

Many studies underline the critical relationship between local communities and rural‐based industries. However, the dynamics of the relationship between wineries and local communities is rarely considered in research despite the importance of these links for rural communities. This paper investigates this dimension from the perspective of Canary Islands' small wine growers.

A total of 23 winery operations located on the islands of Tenerife and La Palma accept the invitation to participate in the form of face‐to‐face interviews.

The level of participation and contribution to the community varies between operations, with some small family operations in particular limiting their external involvement, while others see it as a necessary and/or beneficial relationship. Most wineries in the study are active in their communities, participating in local events and employing local residents. However, generational changes that threaten both the wine business and tradition, or mass tourism leading to land value increases are critical challenges to the winery‐community relationship.

With over 200 largely small‐family wineries in the Canary Islands, it is acknowledged that the sample of wineries in this paper may not be representative of the region's wine industry.

The strengthening relationships between wineries and local communities for cultural events can build nostalgia for local wine production. This, in turn, appears to be vital for preserving the local wine culture and tradition by making winery ownership and work well‐regarded by the local community.

To date limited research has been conducted on the redeveloping Canary Islands' wine industry, particularly from winery operators' points of view.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and use living stories to provide examples and some basic principles of cooperation as the alternative way of organising island community.

This study draws upon autoethnography and storytelling to show co-operative practices. Storytelling is supported by deconstruction of living stories.

Island communities create and maintain resistance through a culture of cooperation. Living stories (I-V) illustrate different instances of cooperative practices, for example, friends in need, gathering, search and moba, and where sympathy, gift, and humanity and care are essential elements.

It would be interesting to explore whether island communities elsewhere exhibit similar patterns.

Deconstructed stories helped in reconstructing the bigger picture of how the people on the island offer collective resistance by developing different ways of cooperation.

Living stories (I-V) based on reciprocity of taking turns and giving back to the community, is a strategy for survival and of collective resistance within the rural island communities.

Appreciation of the true value of collective resistance based on gift and reciprocity rather than financialisation and economisation aids to better understanding of the needs of traditional societies of island archipelagos, on the part of policy makers and other stakeholders who are involved in the process of planning for island development.

Climate change poses diverse, often fundamental, challenges to livelihoods of island peoples. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that these challenges must be better understood before effective and sustainable adaptation is possible.

Understanding past livelihood impacts from climate change can help design and operationalize future interventions. In addition, globalization has had uneven effects on island countries/jurisdictions, producing situations especially in archipelagoes where there are significant differences between core and peripheral communities. This approach overcomes the problems that have characterized many recent interventions for climate-change adaptation in island contexts which have resulted in uneven and at best only marginal livelihood improvements in preparedness for future climate change.

Island contexts have a range of unique vulnerability and resilience characteristics that help explain recent and proposed responses to climate change. These include the sensitivity of coastal fringes to climate-environmental changes: and in island societies, the comparatively high degrees of social coherence, closeness to nature and spirituality that are uncommon in western contexts.

Enhanced understanding of island environmental and social contexts, as well as insights from past climate impacts and peripherality, all contribute to more effective and sustainable future interventions for adaptation.

The need for more effective and sustainable adaptation in island contexts is becoming ever more exigent as the pace of twenty-first-century climate change increases.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the processes whereby social entrepreneurs can contribute to community resilience and sustainability.

The study used a qualitative case study approach with 15 island communities located off the north and west coasts of Scotland and who were engaged in the development and implementation of renewable energy initiatives.

Peripheral communities provide an environment where entrepreneurial activities can flourish. Through a model of social enterprise, they were able to develop the necessary mechanisms to increase socio-economic resilience. The study indicates the importance of social capital in this process.

External networks provide part of the framework to overcome market imperfections caused by distance and remoteness so that social entrepreneurs can develop their ability to build resilience and sustainability. More research is needed on how this framework can be utilised.

In spite of the challenges presented in remote areas, these communities have shown the ability to adapt. This is an important component of resilience building.

This paper makes a unique contribution to the knowledge base through the interconnected concepts of social entrepreneurship and social capital. It provides new empirical insights into social enterprises and describes the mechanisms that help to build resilient rural communities in the context of renewable energy endeavours.

The purpose of this chapter is to showcase rhythmanalysis as methodology for the field of island studies. Islands maintain urban qualities that occur seasonally or intermittently with the mass arrival of tourists. On the Greek island of Lesvos, the focus of this chapter, the expansion of the tourist population brings with it the increase of events and activities such as concerts, art shows, sports and the multiplication of social venues including bars, cafes and restaurants that are typical of cities. Lesvos has become well-known as ground zero to the European Union (EU) refugee crisis. This chapter also considers how the influx of migrants contributes to the rhythm of intermittent urbanisation on the island. To ground my analysis, I relate these forms of visitations to the myth of Persephone. The application of rhythmanalysis for articulating the social conditions of Lesvos, and potentially islands, includes bringing together historical, geo-political and ideological cadences. In the case of Lesvos, Greece's historic peripheralisation socially and economically in Europe shapes northern European tourism and the EU's lack of accountability towards the immigration crisis on its eastern borders. The application of rhythmanalysis holds potential not only for island studies but also for evaluating regional geo-politics and for considering how some spaces oscillate between urbanness and rurality.

The phrase “digital divide” has been applied to the gap that exists in most countries between those with ready access to the tools of information and communication technologies (ICTs), and those without such access or skills. This may be because of socio‐economic or geographical factors, educational, attitudinal and generational factors, or because of physical disabilities. The paper reviews recent research concerning the digital divide in New Zealand, and the factors that alienate people from enjoying the benefits of information technology and participation in the knowledge economy. While socio‐economic factors affect use of ICTs by urban Maori and Pacific Island communities, and rural communities are affected by inadequate telecommunications infrastructure, rural Maori are even more disadvantaged. The paper examines strategies used in the USA and the UK at national and regional levels to address similar issues, including the use of libraries to reduce the digital divide, and compares these with New Zealand initiatives, to identify positive means of increasing participation in the knowledge economy.

Community economic development (CED) focuses on the creation of sustainable communities. To that end, a reciprocal relationship that sustains the community and business alike can be created. However, little is known about the nature of informal interactions between residents and businesses that achieves that end. This study aims to explore the nature of these interactions and their contribution to CED within a rural context.

A case study approach was used with interviews with five rural entrepreneurs. Questions explored the nature of the support that they receive from their home community and their contributions back to it.

The results show that communities and businesses do not operate independently of each other, but rather are mutually supportive and contribute directly to the other’s objectives. These relationships are reinforced over time by a business owner’s direct involvement in the community, though this process takes time and effort.

This study focuses on a limited geographical area in British Columbia with a small group of rural entrepreneurs. The results may not be generalizable to other contexts.

The results suggest concrete actions that both the rural entrepreneurs and their associated communities can take to be mutually supportive of each other to the benefit of each party alike.

This paper enlarges the understanding of the types of interactions, especially informal ones, that can support both businesses and the larger community in their efforts to sustain themselves and contribute to CED efforts.

This viewpoint piece will highlight the contribution of trained lay community health workers to the integrated workforce in rural, remote and island settings, drawing on experience from a system strengthening project involving community health agents (CHAs) in four municipalities in Litoral Norte, a remote coastal and island region in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

This viewpoint reflects on experiential learning from a unique north–south collaboration that spanned the period of a global pandemic. It adds to the international literature on the value of community health workers in public health and chronic disease management and highlights their potential pivotal role as integrators at point of care.

CHAs took forward actions that touched the lives of thousands of vulnerable families with low income and complex needs in communities with high levels of social and health inequalities. They acted as a bridge between patients and families at home, primary healthcare professionals and wider community partners and services. Their valuable insight into the healthcare issues and social challenges experienced by the community informed and supported family centred practice and population health goals. The CHAs rapidly pivoted to became an essential public health workforce during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the authors establish integrated care systems and embrace proactive care and population health, the conditions are favourable for introducing a similar role in the UK. For psychological safety and avoidance of burnout people in such new roles will require training, supervision and full integration within community teams.

This viewpoint reflects experiential learning from a unique north–south collaboration that spanned the period of a global pandemic. It adds to the international literature on the value of community health workers in public health and chronic disease management and highlights their potential pivotal role as integrators at point of care.