Proximity tourism in a peripheral area: the case of the Pistoia mountains. – The Pistoia mountains represented the traditional holiday destination for the towns of Pistoia, Florence and Prato that reached its peak in the Seventies and declined in the following decades. However, since the pandemic crisis a flow of tourists has been reborn.
How to transform a temporary event into a permanent new model of tourism? This is the research question of our study.
The paper describes the characteristics of tourist supply and demand, the decline of family-run hotels in favor of B&Bs and the role of proximity tourism.
The study also qualifies the tourism supply by interviewing local operators, managing two focus groups, defining a SWOT analysis. The results can be used for some policy proposals to exploit the strengths of the territory, reduce its weaknesses, seize the opportunities of the sustainable tourism and avoid the threats of the social scenario and climate change.

Transhumance paths in the Tuscan Maremma: community and territorial development. – The practice of transhumance in Tuscany, now reinterpreted beyond its pastoral context, serves as an opportunity for territorial development. The CamBio Via project in Tuscany, for instance, aims to enhance transhumance routes by integrating cultural Heritage and landscape. The decline of transhumance is correlated to socio-economic changes and the abandonment of rural areas, however, projects like CamBio Via seek to preserve and promote this tradition by fostering sus-tainable routes and providing training for shepherds. Transhumance, alt-hough declining, continues to play a crucial role in the relationship be-tween rural life and mountain environments, contributing to biodiversity conservation and sustainable natural resource management. The tourist
valorisation of transhumance routes, as emphasized by initiatives like the Cammini, represents an opportunity to preserve and transmit this ancient rural practice. This overall purpose can be achieved also through means such as short films and documentaries able to narrate its history and current challenges.