SMART AND GREEN ISLANDS
Tourism is a pillar of economic development as it is an important activity that is intense both in winter and summer, generating significant income for our country’s annual budget.
However, increased tourist activity, especially during the summer months, has significant impacts on the environment – the most important of which are water pollution, increased waste in island areas (solid and liquid), increased levels of atmospheric pollution, as well as the imprudent use and waste of energy to meet the needs of the increased population. There is also a noticeable phenomenon of overexploitation of coastal areas and their use mainly as shops, dining and entertainment spaces, and hotel units, intervening and significantly disrupting the natural environment.
Thus, the term sustainable and sustainable development enters the tourism industry. The goal is to preserve the natural environment and biodiversity, as well as the preservation of the pristine natural beauty – where it exists – with minimal interventions to highlight these landscapes to the multitude of tourists who visit our country every year.
Furthermore, within the framework of sustainable development, actions are implemented to preserve and highlight the cultural heritage of each place, to ensure and defend the value and benefits of the social whole – as an integral part and pillar of sustainable development – to implement land improvement projects for the protection of water and soil, to achieve smart and green solutions in the transportation sector, as well as to exploit and implement new projects and technologies for Renewable Energy Sources.
Already since 2021, the Smart and Sustainable Island program for the island of Astypalaia – the first green and smart island in the Mediterranean – has been approved, thus paving the way towards climate neutrality, reducing carbon footprint, and promoting green development. The aim of the program is the replacement of vehicles with internal combustion engines with new electric vehicles whose required electrical energy is provided by purely Renewable Energy Sources, achieving complete energy autonomy in the transportation sector. The achievement of the new challenge for energy self-sufficiency of the island is realized through the design and installation of photovoltaic systems and a wind park, covering over 80% of the required energy.
Another characteristic example of transition to green islands is Chalki, which was inaugurated as the 1st GR – eco Island in November, and Kythnos, which joined the GR – eco Islands initiative in June, with the aim of increased use of Renewable Energy Sources, sustainable development, as well as the promotion of digitization and technological advancement.
