Sustainable islands

The observatory promoted by Legambiente and the National Research Council (CNR-IIA)

Description

The Sustainable Islands Observatory promoted by Legambiente e National Research Council (CNR-IIA) aims to help tell what is happening in the smaller Italian islands in the energy, water, waste and mobility sectors. The main point is to encourage an acceleration to achieve a sustainable transition focused on these such as natural and fascinated territories by reports, workshops, conferences, and news.

The smaller Italian islands can today turn from very often inefficient models, because they depend on exchanges of energy and matter with the mainland, to innovative models in the adoption of sustainable systems for the supply of clean energy and water management, for the recovery and recycling of waste and for zero-emission mobility. Because the climatic transition that we urgently need to stop the growth of the planet's temperature can link together the objectives of a 100% clean energy model, focused on renewable sources, with that of a virtuous management of the water and materials cycle able to bring positive innovations in agriculture, construction, in the various activities that take place on the islands.

Thanks to their peculiar isolation, islands can develop innovative research projects and measure the benefits of the transition to more sustainable models. This evolution isn't only focused on technology, but it should involve local communities and it should help the integration of renewable plants in the island landscape.

The observatory examines with numbers and analysis the situation of each Italian island and, in particular, of the smaller inhabited islands, and it would like to build partnerships and agreements with all the subjects involved on that issues.

On the other hand, it is an eye on theexperiments and innovations spread in the world, especially in the Mediterranean and Europe areas, where the feasibility and advantages of a 100% renewable scenario and different projects, focused on environmental sustainability, are already being developed. The results were achieved by enhancing the local natural resources and stimulating the economies of the territory, involving the communities of residents. They represent some excellent examples and that is the reason why they should be known and replicated in the Mediterranean area.