Capizzi

Capizzi rises in the interior of the Island around the Verna hill, buttress in the southern part of the Nebrodi mountains and on the sources of the Simeto river, at 1,139 metres (3,650 feet) above sea level and a little further from the coast 20 km as the crow flies.

Due to the elevated position of the place where Capizzi rises, atmospheric conditions undergo sudden changes. In winter, especially in the period between January and March, the weather is very hostile with very low temperatures, often below zero, with abundant snow and frosts. In summer, however, the climate is made pleasant by the presence of woods and winds.

The woods adjacent to the town of Capizzi offer hundreds of varieties of different species of animals, plants and mushrooms, partly edible. In Capizzi, their recent discovery has allowed the annual realization of the festival, "The Truffle among the flavors of autumn" now in its fifth edition (2017). Indeed, visitors have the opportunity to visit an area rich in historical-artistic and landscape beauties, to know the popular and artisan traditions, and above all to taste the typical specialities.

In Capizzi, as in the rest of the island, the employment rate of people between 20 and 64 is the lowest in Europe, equal to 42.4%. The corresponding unemployment rate includes a high percentage of Neet, a category that indicates young people neither employed, nor included in a training or education program, of which more than 40% between 18 and 24 years old.

The Municipality of Capizzi has joined the Covenant of Mayors in 2013 and has therefore embarked on a path in the framework of the main European initiative involving local and regional authorities committed to increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in their territories.

The SECAP (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan) of Capizzi is focused on the Promotion of innovation and on two identified thematic areas of integrated local and sustainable development, with which Capizzi intends to realise and enhance a series of interventions aimed at reducing CO2 emissions, simultaneously with a complementary series of interventions of joint approach to the integration between risk mitigation and adaptation to climate change.

At the European level, the Municipality of Capizzi has successfully achieved a cooperation agreement for the implementation of the project “BE YOUTH – Building Europe through YOUTH participation” financed by the “Europe for Citizens” Programme.