OROBIKEANDO

OROBIKEANDO: A journey along the Orobic Alps cycle routes discovering the landscape and the agrifood and wine excellence of the area 

The project involves the GAL Valtellina: Valle dei Sapori (lead partner), the GAL dei Colli di Bergamo e del Canto Alto, the GAL Valle Brembana 2020 and the GAL Valle Seriana e dei Laghi Bergamaschi.
Thus, the intervention covers the rural area that, from the city of Bergamo, climbs up to the Orobie Bergamasque Alps, continuing on the Valtellina side and up the course of the Adda River to the city of Tirano, a border town with Switzerland and starting station of the Bernina Express cross-border railway line (UNESCO heritage and international tourist attraction), which connects Italy with the Swiss region of Engadine, crossing alpine landscapes of incomparable beauty.
The entire project area is characterized by an identity heritage made up of tangible elements (the landscape and environment, rural nuclei, agri-food excellences such as cheeses from the Orobic valleys, bresaola and slinzega, apples, honey and Valtellina wine) and intangible elements (cultural and traditional elements handed down over the centuries). The major changes taking place in the tourism sector (not least, the crisis of traditional forms of winter mountain tourism, due to rising temperatures and decreasing snowfall) impose the need to invest in different ways of using the territory, capable of creating a sustainable and deseasonalized offer hinged on the enhancement of the material assets present in it.

Realised by the GAL Valtellina: Valle dei Sapori, GAL dei Colli di Bergamo e del Canto Alto, GAL Valle Brembana 2020 and GAL Valle Seriana e dei Laghi Bergamaschi, the Orobikeando project was born with the intention of creating a true Orobic Alps bicycle network that crosses the provinces of Bergamo and Sondrio. The cycle route is the instrument through which to valorise cultural places and to savour the diversity gastronomic diversity of the territories crossed. The network, which will be built according to European standards (European Cyclists' Federation) will be connected with the international international Euro Velo 15 cycle route. Orobikeando is part of a broader path of valorisation of ecosystem services for the local development of rural areas. Testimony to the value of the project in this direction is the research carried out by Crea, the Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy. The project presents in fact a specific action relating to cultural ecosystem services linked to tourism. In order to identify a series of actions to support the fruition of the territories themselves, enhancing in addition to the food and wine excellence present, all those elements of an ecological, economic, historical and religious.

Photos and Video by © OROBIKEANDO - GAL Valtellina: Valle dei sapori 2014-2020 s.c.a.r.l.