Ticino Val Grande Verbano Biosphere Reserve
Imagine a vast area where human activities are able to protect and regenerate
natural ecosystems.
This outdoor laboratory opens the doors to an alternative cultural approach, in
the awareness that our well?being closely depends on that of other living
creatures and the ecosystems they create.
Extending from the Alps to the middle of the Po Plain, this area is defined by
grandiose landscape and magical details.
Here, humans are not at the centre; they are merely part of everything. This
place is the Ticino Val Grande Verbano Biosphere Reserve.
To immerse oneself in the Reserve is a profound experience, a waking dream
inspired by the polychromatic sounds produced by the watercourses.
Between land and water, fortifications steeped in history and precariously
perched monasteries have watched over the landscape for centuries, as if
priceless inlays into the natural elements.
Along the shores of Lake Maggiore, a surprising biodiversity reveals itself
wherever reedbeds and floodplain forests survive.
Preserving the ancient knowledge that carpenters applied to the building of
ships is another way of restoring precious harmony with the local waters.
On hillside vineyards, abandoned wells locally known as bose are being
skilfully restored. These remnants of an agricultural civilizations come back
to life as tiny wetlands, quickly recolonized by amphibians and dragonflies.
Whether heathland or moors locally known as baragge, the value of these
habitats is unquestionable: a series of terraces on glacio?fluvial sediments
that hark back to primeval times.
On mountain slopes, vertical cliffs are home to sport climbing, while local
forests and chestnut groves are carefully tended to.
For centuries, abbeys and manors on either bank of the Ticino have disseminated
knowledge and taken care the land.
Finally, the waters of this vast river basin flow into the Po: magnificent
geographical, historical, and cultural ties blossom.
The Ticino Val Grande Verbano Biosphere Reserve is part of a planetary
challenge launched by UNESCO with its Man and the Biosphere Programme.
Because reconnecting humans with the natural environment is the only possible
scenario

A lasting legacy hinges on the people who build it.

In the pulse of A-mea, a vibrant force thrives.

They're not just EY professionals. They're pioneers, performing artists, athletes, community heroes.

They lace up, they lead, they lift others from the charity frontlines to the peaks of personal triumphs.

They are the heartbeat of diversity.

What they do - it's more than numbers. It's the canvas for a rich, fulfilling career.

Meet the trailblazers, the balance seekers.

The ones who dare to blend passion with profession.

EY is the architect of agile careers, the cultivator of stories worth telling over and over again.

We don't just attract talent. We nurture it. We celebrate it.

Introducing our EY pioneers.

The stories of our champions, our visionaries, our EY.

They are not just building a better working world. They are shaping the future with confidence.

Piambello

Bicycle tourism is a great excuse to discover new places, even when practised as a sport.

At the Monte San Giorgio UNESCO World Heritage Site, the clock seems to have stopped around the Mesozoic era. Astonishing fossils such as Besanosaurus and Saltriovenator stare out towards prehistoric habitats and faunas.

On the other side of Valcherezio, the path to Punta Paradiso delivers breathtaking views over Lake Lugano. From this vantage point, the Italian-Swiss border seems a mere abstraction, but the fortifications along the Cadorna Line remind us that during wartime, perceptions were different: between Monte Orsa and Monte Pravello, miles of trenches, galleries, and heavy artillery positions are linked by military roads that are now tourist trails of great historical significance.

The Toboga mountain bike trail on the other hand, is strictly for sport enthusiasts: the bumps and parabolic curves on this exhilarating single track all point towards Porto Cherezio.

Pacro dell'Argentera is a riot of autumn colours, with its lively waterfalls and its mills decorated with frescoes, with the Valganna bicycle path nearby.

This is the Piambello Montane Community with VareseDoYouBike!

Parco Pineta and Valle Olona

The vectors of time and space cross paths between Parco Pineta and Valle Olona.

It is just a short hop from the Planetarium at the Tradate Science and Education Centre to the Torba Abbey. In its towers, faceless Medieval nuns interrogate us from the past. The Lombard imprint of the historical region of Seprio imbues the Valle Olona with the austere magnificence of these warriors from the north.

A small detour from the bicycle path that runs along the river reveals the private Renaissance of Castigliona Olona.

The steep Piccolo Stelvio climb tests the mettle of the cyclists heading for the sun-filled plateau featuring ancient lavoirs, monumental oak trees, and country chapels.

The banks of the Olona river and the Lanza torrent are dotted with silent traces of industrial archaeology, with the abandoned Val Morea railway running alongside the latter.

The rays of light in the Molera caves at Malnate and Cagno are a prelude to the scenic heights of Colle di San Matteo. Looking out over the valleys we have just cycled through, we immediately want to dive back in to discover new historical and natural attractions, all intimately linked to the local waterways.

This is Parco Pineta and Valle Olona with VareseDoYouBike!