Twenty years ago, it was an abandoned military railway. Today the Treviso-Ostiglia Cycle Path stretches for over 120 km across the Venetian plain, connects four provinces and records hundreds of thousands of passages per year. Recognised as itinerary I5 in the Veneto Excursion Network and included in the Regional Cycling Mobility Plan, the route links the provinces of Treviso, Padova, Vicenza, Verona and Mantova, crossing a territory of outstanding natural, historical and cultural value. Managing it effectively requires an integrated approach capable of coordinating local authorities, communities and private operators across multiple provinces and tourist destinations.

The Federazione dei Comuni del Camposampierese, the first Managing Body officially recognised by the Veneto Region under Regional Law 35/2019, commissioned Etifor to provide technical support for the drafting of the 2025-2027 Management Plan for the Treviso-Ostiglia Cycle Path. The plan was developed through a regenerative approach that goes beyond sustainability to actively improve the socio-ecological system in which the cycle path is embedded. Built on this principle, the plan addresses both an infrastructural dimension – maintenance, safety, accessibility – and a tourism dimension, with strategies for governance, promotion and cycle tourism product development. Central to the process was the decision to place nature and local communities at the heart of planning: the cycle path is conceived not as a product to be managed, but as a common good from which to regenerate the surrounding territories.

Etifor supported the Federazione dei Comuni del Camposampierese throughout the entire plan drafting process, from methodological design to the final document. The work included an assessment of the current state of the cycle path and the territory it crosses, a direct user survey conducted along the route, and the facilitation of two participatory processes with tourism operators and public administrators to jointly define a shared vision for 2027. Based on these inputs, the Etifor team developed management guidelines for both the tourism dimension — governance, service offer, communication and monitoring — and the infrastructural dimension, with detailed plans for routine and extraordinary maintenance, improvement interventions and cost estimates.