Sustainable community development has become a cornerstone for the overall sustainability movement in the recent years. Island provinces, due to the unique make up of their communities can and should adopt sound community development process for sustaining their futures growth. Civic engagement and citizen input are crucial for planning sustainable growth of island communities. This is primarily due to the fact that most island communities are inundated with rapidly growing tourism industry that threatens to affect the future of their environmental assets, island cultures and living standards. The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of environmental governance and citizen participation for sustainable growth of island communities. In addition to discussing the importance of citizen participation in sustainable development of island communities, this article also provides a brief case study of Jeju island and its recent attempts to promote sustainability in the wake of rapidly growing tourist industry. Two emerging and important planning processes that can enhance sustainable community development of island provinces are also discussed with specific applications to Jeju

• Muthusami Kumaran, Ph.D.(Assistant Professor, Department of Family, Youth & Community Sciences,University of Florid, USA)