Capri’s name derives from the greek “kàpros”, or boar, connected to the Latin “Capreae”, goats.
Capri is an island located in front of the Sorrento peninsula, in the Gulf of Naples.
The island is administratively divided into two municipalities: Capri counts 7,052 inhabitants and Anacapri 6,684 inhabitants.
The coast is indented with numerous coves, bays and steep cliffs. Natural beauty and historical monuments in Capri are known throughout the world: the “Grotta Azzurra”, “Faraglioni”, “l’Arco Naturale” and the fourteenth-century “Certosa di San Giacomo”.
Numerous tourists arrive each year on the island, attracted by many events and activities. This has led to the realization of a number of facilities and services that rank Capri as one of the most famous touristic island in the world. The beautiful climate, even in winter, and the hospitality of Capri inhabitants turns the island as one of the favourite holidays destinations.
Capri is an island with a strong tourist vocation, every year a tourists flow of about 500 thousand visitors is hosted, both italian and international. Another source of income for the city is the Capri craft, in particular textiles, whose tradition dates back to ancient times. In the Italian fashion "caprese" style is very popular plump by the creativity and imagination of islanders tailors, shoemakers and craftsmen, able to defeat fierce competition. It is possible to find for sale not only brands and high fashion garments, but also many fine local handcrafts, which are trend among island visitors. Furthermore, hand painted ceramics and paintings made on canvas and wood panels are famous, they have various shapes and bright colours, depicting many natural beauties and remote places of the blue island, according to the particular artists tastes. Next to this craft there are the workshops of blacksmiths and carpenters whose works, unique and refined, decorate the most exclusive houses and villas in the island. Finally it is to be considered the production of perfumes, that is based on the use of aromatic Mediterranean species and the “Limoncello” production, liqueur made of lemons exported all over the world.
The three main commitments of Capri Municipality for next years, regarding environmental issues, are:
In particular, the municipality plans to identify solutions to optimize energy efficiency of public lighting and transport. There are several initiatives in the framework of the sustainable mobility: three electric shuttles within the port, allowing the removal of all private cars and scooters inside the area, and the bike-sharing service with 15 free bikes available for tourists in three different areas of the port. Capri is also a virtuous island for the separate collection of rubbish service management. In fact, Anacapri Municipality has obtained the certificate of excellence by 2015 from Legambiente and “Comuni Ricicloni” for exceeding the 65% of sorting waste. The City of Capri reached 53% of garbage segregation in the year 2014. These results are attributable to strong citizen awareness campaign implemented by both municipalities. As part of the project “Marina Green" implemented in the tourist port of Capri, 6 bins for waste collection were installed.
Capri is an island still not connected to the national electric grid, using the energy from a diesel power plant installed on the island. The island energy consumption is estimated around the value of 4700 kWh per year, mostly concentrated in the summer period. There is a project of Terna, named "Insula”, aiming at connecting the island to the national electricity grid through a network of submarine cable technology. The cables will provide the power connecting Capri with Torre Annunziata. There are also several projects focused on using renewable energy sources, especially solar energy, by installing solar panels on public and private buildings. Finally, 40 lanterns with low-consumption LEDs lights will be installed, as part of the project "Marina Green", in the touristic port of Capri.
The Capri Municipality joined the "Covenant of Mayors" in 2015, an initiative promoted by the European Commission with the aim of involving the European Cities in the path of energy and environmental sustainability by following the Kyoto Protocol objectives. There is also an ongoing pilot project named “Marina Green" at the Capri touristic port, aimed at the development of sustainable mobility, energy savings and reduced emissions. In particular, new services for tourists and boats moored are provided: bike sharing, electric cars and free wi-fi; points for the waste batteries and waste oil recycling; water rationalization and energy savings.
SOURCES: portoturisticodicapri.com | comunedianacapri.it | mysir.it | cittadicapri.it | qualenergia.it
Smart Island is a project funded by the Ministry of Education, University and Research and carried out by CNR IIA which aims to find solutions to increase energy efficiency, economic and environmental sustainability of the whole system of production, management, distribution and use of the island of Lampedusa.