Cammini, comunità e governance negli ecosistemi turistico-religiosi: buone prassi territoriali e novità normative

This article examines religious routes and faith-based tourism as complex tourist-religious ecosystems, rooted in the ecclesial and spiritual experience of pilgrimage and shaped by the interaction between religious communities, local territories and public institutions. Starting from the canonical relevance of pilgrimage and sanctuaries, the essay highlights the need to distinguish religious tourism from ordinary tourism, in light of religious freedom, confessional autonomy and inter-institutional cooperation. It then develops an ecosystemic approach in which pastoral, cultural, legal, social, economic and environmental dimensions are integrated through collaborative and multilevel governance. Particular attention is devoted to Italian Law no. 24 of 13 February 2026 on the promotion and enhancement of Italian routes, with specific reference to the recognition of religious traditions and religious sites and to the limits of a governance model that does not expressly include religious entities among its institutional actors. The article finally analyses the Emilia-Romagna experience, the Way of St Columbanus and the Ecclesial Cultural Park "Terre di Passo" as laboratories of territorial cooperation, community participation and sustainable development. The concluding argument is that religious routes can become places of shared responsibility, capable of connecting faith, heritage, care for territories and the regeneration of local communities.