The SMILO Label helps recognise islands involved in a continuous improvement process which includes several steps:

• establishing an Island Committee that represents all stakeholders of the area
• adhering to the SMILO philosophy and committing to the certification process
• developing a territory diagnosis as well as defining the issues and priorities of the island
• assessing its interim condition of identifying  efforts already provided by the island as well as its commitment to the process
• implementing measures that contribute to achieving the priority objectives of the island
• carrying out a final assessment to obtain the label
• maintaining efforts to improve the sustainability of the area and to keep the label

Throughout this process, several tools are available to the islands:

• strategic and technical support is provided through the availability of experts/facilitators, good practice sheets, participation in Technical workshops, and inter-island meetings
• when eligible (criteria depending on the project), they can have access to the Islands Fund in order to finance measures to achieve priority objectives