The “Spring of soft mobility” is underway to travel safely and not damage the environment

For six years now, every 21 March the “Spring of soft mobility” has been held, organized by AMODO, the Alliance for Soft Mobility, made up of 29 national associations that deal with tourism, hiking, villages, cycle paths and cycling , heritage, environment and railways. The event includes national events which this year will be dedicated to the theme of safety in recreational mobility activities, with the slogan “Slow and safe is the journey of the future!”.

“The safety of users of soft mobility does not only concern urban roads – he declares Anna Donati, AMODO spokesperson – but also the cycle and pedestrian paths outside the cities, on extra-urban roads. New rules in the highway code would be needed and the existing ones should be implemented, such as the identification of highly cycle-friendly roads. How cycle-pedestrian infrastructures and tourist cycle paths should be implemented, to increase safety and induce responsibility in the sharing of common spaces on the roads by motorized vehicles, in order to protect the most vulnerable users such as pedestrians and cyclists. AMODO’s Primavera della Mobilità Dolce wants to make people reflect on these issues and ask the institutions for concrete actions”. An example of good safety practice is Federparchi’s campaign for safety in parks, which explains in a few simple fact sheets how to behave in parks.

The calendar of events

Let’s start with Do the right thing!, the fair of critical consumption and sustainable lifestyles promoted by Terre di Mezzo, with the meeting entitled “Walking and cycling safely on the roads, on paths and trails and in nature” scheduled for 25 March at 2.00 pm at Piazza Viaggio Slow. They intervene Mino Repossini (President ARI), Alexander Piazzi (President FederTrek), Philip Camerlenghi (AIGAE), Isabella Andrighetti (Head of Certifications Cammini TCI) and moderates Anna Donati, AMODO spokesperson. Another meeting scheduled for the 24th at 4.00 pm again in Piazza Viaggio Slow is “New Touring Certified Paths” moderated by Tino Mantaro, with interventions by the representatives of the certified paths and the territories, organized by TCI. AITR, FederTrek and AIGAE are also present in the Conscious Tourism, Great Paths and Outdoor exhibition area (Pavilion 3). BAI, Authentic Villages of Italy, will also be present to represent those territories too often marginalized by national policies, but which today can play a decisive role in development processes under the banner of environmental sustainability.

On 4 April in Bologna it will be the turn of the meeting “The construction sites of the cycle routes”, in which the leading bodies of the national system of tourist cycle routes, ie the Regions, will meet to update themselves on the status of the project and on the still unexpressed potential. A moment of reflection among the operators organized by Legambiente AMODO and BikeItalia, in collaboration with the Fiera del Cicloturismo and under the patronage of the Metropolitan City of Bologna.

rightThe 9th edition of the railway marathon, which this year is brought forward to 27-29 April, will cross Etruria from north to south, from Bologna to Rome. AMODO with the FIFTM, UTP Assoutenti, Italia Nostra, AEC and Kyoto Club, will travel on local railway lines passing through Pistoia, Florence, Perugia, Spoleto, Orte, Viterbo. From Porretta Terme to Pracchia and Pistoia you will travel along the most spectacular stretch of the Porrettana and then visit the Historical Rolling Stock Workshop (DORS) of the FS Foundation with the guide of the Italian Touring Club. After passing through Florence we arrive in Perugia where a meeting with Umbria Sviluppo is planned to talk about the Cammini San Francesco and cycle paths.

The following day, the delegation heads to Spoleto for a presentation of the Atlas of Soft Mobility, followed by a visit to the old terminus of the Spoleto – Norcia, now transformed into a cycle path by the MTB Club Spoleto. We leave Spoleto for Viterbo, via Orte, where a meeting is scheduled with the delegation of the Committee for the reopening of the Civitavecchia Capranica Orte railway or “Ferrovia dei due Mari”. On the last day we go down to Rome with the via Capranica line of Trenitalia’s FL3 service with two appointments to award the Euroferr prize: the first at Anguillara station and the second at the Astral Transport Museum in Rome, a museum that tells the social history of Rome through local public transport.

The unmissable Wonder Railways Day, supported by the FS Foundation, on 13-14 May is also dedicated to the railway world. On the morning of Sunday 14 May, a special train of the FS Foundation will leave from Cuneo and will touch the stations of Saluzzo-Savigliano-Cavallermaggiore-Alba-CastagnoledelleLanze-Asti-Chivasso-Turin. After presenting for two consecutive years a specific focus within the “Suspended future” dossier on the many suspended railway lines in Piedmont, AMODO participates in a traveling event which includes meetings in the stations to support the reopening of a essential local public transport service. There are also numerous initiatives by the Alliance associations in other regions, along the tourist and non-tourist routes of the Italian railway network and regional networks, with special trains, trips, excursions and visits to the most significant sites.

On 3 June AMODO adheres to the world bicycle day with a national event on the Appia Antica and other thematic or heritage rides organized throughout Italy.

It ends in Parma, on 9-11 June, with participation in the Slowness Festival, the event organized by the Association of Virtuous Municipalities dedicated to unhurried travel, to watch and appreciate the changes in the landscape while travelling.

Throughout the spring, member and allied associations will present their events. In April, throughout Italy, thanks to the commitment of AIAPP members, “Open Gardens and Landscapes 2023” is organized with guided tours, public meetings, training and demonstration moments, workshops and conferences. On 13 and 14 May, the “Exploring Orange Flags” event of the Italian Touring Club will take place in the Piazza d’Armi of the Castello Sforzesco in Milan. A two-day event, on the occasion of which one hundred villages from all over Italy, certified by Touring, will tell their food and wine and artisan excellences but also the sustainable management practices of the territory, through an exhibition itinerary and a rich program of events. On May 15, AITR turns 25 and celebrates with an online event dedicated to low climate impact travel.

Those who love walking will be able to enjoy themselves throughout May with the National Month of the Francigeni Ways and the many routes and events organized by the Rete dei Cammini. May 19th is also the time of Klick’s On Ways organized by Free Wheels, a voluntary organization that helps people with disabilities to tackle itineraries on foot or by bicycle. This year a group of 6 friends faces a new wheelchair adventure around the Veneto region. Starting from Negrar di Valpolicella, they will pass through Verona, Lonigo, Vicenza, Camposanpiero, Dolo (through Padua), Martellago, Monastier di Treviso, Eraclea, Motta di Livenza and finally Venice. CittaSlow participates in “Umbria Primavera in Cammino” a festival made up of free excursions in Le Terre dei Borghi Verdi, in the southern tip of Umbria, with 5 of the most important influencers of the paths in Italy (first appointment on 15 and 16 April the Amerino , the Path of Germanicus and the Path of Silent Villages).

For bicycle lovers, a wonderful initiative is “Giro delle Regioni – Le Ciclostoriche 2023”, a traveling event for the regions sponsored by the Italian Cycling Federation and in partnership with AMODO and Vintage Bicycles. The first of the nine stages of the event will take place on 2 April in Perugia along the itinerary “Francesco in the paths”. The second is scheduled for April 23 with the title of “La Vulcanica”, organized by Napoli Pedala with a 40 km route through the districts of Naples. Event twinned with the Maleventum of Benevento and the Marittima of Scauri and the historical cycle from the Cascate to the Lake of Isola Liri. If, on the other hand, you like mountain biking, there are two unmissable appointments: the Trebbiano Gravel 2023 on 30 April and La Spoleto Norcia Gravel 2023 on 10 and 11 June starting from Scheggino, organized by LaSpoletoNorcia MTB.

Now in its sixth edition, the Soft Mobility Spring is sponsored by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, ANCI, the National Association of Italian Municipalities, the FS Foundation, ASSTRA, the Italian Association of Local Public Transport Companies, RE.MI. . National Network of Mining Parks and Museums and Cesare Pozzo Library and with RFI Italian Railway Network. The media partners are Green & Blue di Repubblica, La Nuova Ecologia, Mobility Press and FerPress.