For decades, the island of Ischia lacked sustainable development practices and strategic planning, leading to unlawful construction, marine pollution, and insufficient environmental protections. Locals prioritized profits over environmental impacts by building homes and hotels without permits and dumping waste in the sea. Now, over 1,000 structures are unregistered and pollution damages the island's image. Recent efforts have involved stricter law enforcement, confiscating illegal buildings, and promoting cooperation between local authorities and businesses to rehabilitate the landscape through controls and investments while promoting ecotourism. The goal is to establish sustainable development that protects the environment and economy for future generations on Ischia.

1. Sustainable Development:
The Island of Ischia
Giuseppe Conte

2. A Cultural Issue
People has always lived in Ischia as if the island was their
property, adopting a lifestyle that was not in line with the
concept of sustainable development.
The main problems that emerged in the past few years
are:
 Unlawful building
 Marine pollution
 Insufficient support from local administrations

3. Unlawful Building
Since the 60’s, Ischia has not had a local strategic
plan. For this reason it is forbidden to build new
houses on the island. Citizens did not respect this
ban and kept building houses and, in particular,
hotels and apartments to rent. They cared about
their own incomes rather than the environmental
impact of their actions.
Now Ischia, an island that has a population of
60.000 citizens, can count about 1000
constructions not regularly registered.

4. Marine Pollution
Despite the fact that a large part of the sea that
surrounds Ischia is a protected zone, hotels and
privates keep draining into the sea toxic thermal
muds and other materials that should be disposed
of in a different and more expensive way.
This behaviour contributes to pollute the sea and
damages the image of the island.

5. Local Administration
Its support is insufficient and ineffective.
It has always been accommodating with people that
disrespected their hometown.
Every kind of control system in the past years has been
very superficial and easy to elude.

6. What should
be improved?
Until the 90’s, the irresponsible behaviour of the
locals did not show its negative effects. The
tourism kept growing, some businessmen gained a
lot of money and only now we face a situation
where all this problems come out.
What can be improved:
 Controls and controllers.
 Public and private support.

7. Controls and
controllers
In the past five years authorities begun to exert a
more strict control, putting these operations in the
hands of people not involved in politics or other
activities that would interfere with their role.
As a first step, several hotel facilities and other
illegal constructions have been confiscated,
however the real goal is to stop illegal activities
before they happen with the creation of a
prevention plan.

8. Public and
Private Support
Both the public administration and local businessmen
must cooperate and invest money in the requalification
of the territory.
After a first step where they have to face and resolve
environmental problems, the next step should be
investing money in promotions to let people know
things are changed and Ischia is the uncontaminated
island that was forty years ago.

9. Prospects
The development reached in the past was not
socially, institutionally and economically
sustainable in environmental terms.
I hope that with this simple plan, in the next
few years, we can reach a sustainable
development for everyone living in the Island
of Ischia.