Capraia Smart Island

Capraia Smart Island is a circular economy project, based on the participation of the local population, that is transforming the island of Capraia into a permanent laboratory of good practices aimed at strengthening the sustainability of the production chains, protecting the island's biodiversity, preventing and eliminating pollution from the sea, making the blue economy sustainable and protecting the island's natural resources. Thus, Capraia is becoming a replicable development model for other small islands of the Mediterranean Sea. Capraia Smart Island is coordinated by Chimica Verde Bionet association with the support of an important board of scientific partners and enterprises, all the project activities are self-financed. The island of Capraia, located within the Tuscan Archipelago National Park and in the centre of a Cetacean Sanctuary, is both advantaged and penalised by its distance from the 'continent'. The island's territory is the only Italian municipality to be 100% 'renewable' in terms of electricity, managing to meet the entire local needs with a pilot plant fuelled by certified sustainable biodiesel. Capraia Smart Island is composed by several pilot projects on environmental themes: energy, waste, sustainable mobility, agricultural and fishery sectors, water cycle, small-scale agro-industrial processing, tourism and the enhancement of activities related to its port. All these areas of activity were analysed in their interconnections as components of a single system. Since 2017, multi-day meetings have been organised on the island to study, listen and understand how to act in such a small and closed system. Meetings are attended each year by various stakeholders including scientists, environmental associations, representatives of the local population, the local administration and local entrepreneurs. The multidisciplinary approach of the project makes the island of Capraia a kind of think tank, where ideas are applied, initiatives are interconnected and get the strength to be implemented. During these years, some 250 researchers and experts in different disciplines have visited the island, united by the common interest on environmental sustainability. During this time, several projects have been implemented with the involvement of local, national and foreign companies, the municipality, the National Park authority and several research institutions. Next objectives, in collaboration with the municipality of Capraia, are the establishment of the first Renewable Energy Community, to be located on a minor island, which has already been financed, and the establishment of a High Training School on the green and blue economy. A further ongoing project aims to transform the village's condition of fragility and marginality into a vital and sustainable ecosystem, at the centre of a cultural innovation process in line with the objectives of 2030 Agenda. The launch of the BLUE and GREEN Economy High Training School, which will trig new activities that will require, infrastructures and services to enhance the culture of the Sea and of the Land at the same time. Culture, tourism, social work and research, will provide opportunities for the re-launch of employment on the island for the new generations and for the promotion of a renewed residential attractiveness both for the resident population and for those coming from outside the island. The involvement of Capraia Smart Island with the Mission Charter was facilitated by BlueMissionMed.