IslandWatch

Citizen Science for Coastal and Island Resilience

IslandWatch is a UNESCO-led, citizen science initiative under the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the Water Information Network System (WINS). It was launched in conjunction with the development of a ten-year roadmap for supporting Small Island Developing States (SIDS), emphasizing the critical role of local communities in climate adaptation and sustainable island management.

The mission of IslandWatch is to mobilize school-aged youth, communities, and citizen observers across island and coastal regions to collect observations on beach morphology, coastal change, water quality, ecosystems, hydrological features (e.g. freshwater lens, coastal aquifers), and human pressures. These observations feed into open-data platforms, inform local and regional planning, and strengthen adaptive capacity.

IslandWatch links education, science, and policy: by embedding environmental monitoring in school curricula, integrating with UNESCO’s Sandwatch methodology, and aligning with international goals under UN frameworks (e.g. UN Decade of Ocean Science, Sendai Framework, Sustainable Development Goals).

The ten-year roadmap sets out strategic goals:

• Building capacities and partnerships in SIDS and coastal zones
• Scaling community-led monitoring and data sharing
• Fostering data interoperability with global hydrological and oceanographic systems
• Enhancing access to policy makers with evidence from local data
• Integrating with climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and ecosystem restoration agendas

IslandWatch is intended to grow into a globally recognized network of resilient islands, where knowledge, data, and community action converge to support sustainable development and resilience.