Origin

Habitat Scotland, an independent environmental research charity based on the Isle of Skye since 1980, has been responsible for putting forward the whole Global Islands Network (GIN) concept. The origins of GIN can be traced back to 1994 when their Director attended the United Nations Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and the parallel NGO Islands Forum held in Barbados. The Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the Barbados Conference proposed solutions to problems under 14 priority areas established as being of great concern to small islands. These were further divided into 214 national, regional and international actions, policies and measures that were identified and agreed upon. An immediate major initiative recommended by the Conference was that regional organisations and networks be created to strengthen the ability of small islands to develop sustainably.

In response to this call, Habitat started operating the Skye International Teleservice Centre (SITC) in January 1995 which formed an islands network covering the Baltic, Caribbean, North and South Atlantic. This Centre trained local students for a teleworking vocational qualification and as part of their course work they helped design the SITC website which built up an extensive collection of island links and contacts. As students developed their desktop publishing skills they also assisted Centre staff to produce five issues of the popular 'Islander' magazine which was freely distributed to several thousand people by now connected through an informal network.

In January 1997, following the European Centre for Development Policy Management 10th anniversary seminar, 'An Island Gateway on the Internet: Using the Web to Facilitate Information Exchange on and among Small Islands' held in Maastricht, the SITC became a founder member of the Island Web Consortium (IWC) which was subsequently registered in Washington D.C. as a non-profit corporation. Twelve Directors were appointed and the Director of Habitat was elected President and Chief Executive Officer in August 1997.

As an outcome of local government re-organisation, the SITC closed down in June 1999 and Habitat constructed a new website managed in conjunction with the IWC which was officially launched at the UK Overseas Territories conference, 'A Breath of Fresh Air', held in London that year organised by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. This site became one of only two official Content Partners for the UN Small Island Developing States network (SIDSnet) as well as being linked to numerous other island networks like the North Atlantic Islands Programme.

Habitat hosted and organised the Islands of the World VI conference in Skye, 15-21 October 2000, on behalf of the International Small Islands Studies Association which attracted 150 delegates from around 40 countries. A day was devoted to island networking where participants emphasised their desire once again for having an effective gateway or portal website on the Internet. As a direct result of this conference, Habitat received financial support from the Lighthouse Foundation based in Hamburg, Germany, to undertake a six month pre-development phase for establishing a Global Islands Network. This included the formation of a Working Group and construction of a demonstration website to illustrate the range of content resource modules that could be made available.

Senior representatives from 15 regional organisations on the Working Group met at the Lighthouse Foundation offices in October 2001 and, after three days of intensive discussions and workshops, a Letter of Intent was signed by all those present agreeing that GIN should be set up as a non-profit body. The Memorandum and Articles of Association that incorporated GIN as a charitable company limited by guarantee were approved and signed at its inaugural Board meeting which took place on 27 June 2002 during the Islands of the World VII conference on Prince Edward Island, Canada. This meeting was followed immediately thereafter with the public launch of the GIN website by The Hon. Jeff Lantz, PEI Minister of Education and Attorney General.