Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe through innovation system foresight and systemic innovation approach to address key systemic issues of European Union (EU) Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) concerning the sustainable development and economic resilience: the authors highlight the need for a systemic approach to innovation policy for the sustainable islands’ growth. Design/methodology/approach This research focuses on a multiple case study of selected OCTs, members of the Association of the OCTs. Specifically, this paper illustrates the foresight approach implemented in six OCTs in the context of the Territorial Strategies for Innovation project funded by the 10th European Development Fund. Findings The focus is on innovation system foresight and systemic innovation: the authors argue that key innovation elements of the individual OCTs can be used as crucial components of an emerging innovation system while this specific type of foresight can assist the governments of respective OCTs in the selection and design of specific instruments in relation to the formulation of their innovation strategies and policies. Originality/value This paper is based on work undertaken by the Territorial Strategies for Innovation project team during a three-year period dedicated to supporting the governments of OCTs both in defining and in implementing their innovation strategies. Its main contribution is to develop the concept of innovation system foresight and systemic innovation for the OCTs. The work presented here is considered to be of value by highlighting specific innovation elements for achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in OCTs.

Innovation policies for tourism are under-investigated and under-conceptualized. With reference to the ongoing innovation policy discussions, three distinctive public innovation policy paradigms-capacityoriented, system-oriented and mission-oriented-are outlined, and the manifestations in the case of tourism are explained. Contemporary strategies and practices for tourism development tend to comprise elements of all three paradigms. Nevertheless, nowadays there tends to be a gradual evolvement towards an ongoing refinement of the instruments towards the mission-oriented approach, which addresses both societal challenges and economic opportunities. The complexity of goals and the number of actors involved increase when taking the mission-oriented policy approach. The EC-OECD innovation policy monitoring program STIP lists many instruments, but is still insufficient for tourism. The study refers to tests of innovation policy survey topics in Overseas Counties and Territories that demonstrate the significant ambiguity of innovation policies. In all types of countries and territories there is a demand for new frameworks, however most innovation policies still seem very traditional and fail to focus on future challenges.

Addressing sustainability issues requires a radical systemic change across multiple dimensions, including policy, culture, and civil society. This also implies that no blueprints for governing critical sustainability issues both at the local and global levels exist. As a result, rather than imposing decisions, policymakers should engage in a learning process. In this paper, we contend that appropriate policies should be developed and fine-tuned over time through a collective, social endeavour. To support this hypothesis, the study focuses on a shared methodology based on backcasting, a specific type of foresight, to facilitate policy learning (and thus policymaking) within a wide range of territories, regardless of their wealth, geographic characteristics and internal political organisation. This methodology was developed over a three-year period as part of the Territorial Strategies for Innovation (TSI) programme. The overall objective of our assignment was to build capacity and raise awareness within the EU's Overseas Countries and Territories about policymaking and implementation of innovative approaches to development. This innovative approach, which incorporates a systemic innovation perspective, highlights new options and opportunities for adopting and implementing adequate policies to positively impact sustainable development and long-term transformative change. Using empirical examples from Anguilla, Curaçao, and New Caledonia, the paper focuses on the learning processes required to deal with complexity and uncertainty in these remote territories. We conclude by discussing the potential implications of this foresight approach for the sustainable development and transformation of other less-favoured regions and territories.