The participants in the cycling workshop will improve the cycling facilities over the winter months and revise and expand the regional cycling map.The Zwettl-Schweiggers cycling map is to be reissued next year. Therefore the municipality invited cycling enthusiasts from the region to a workshop at the town hall on 6th of November. At the beginning of the event, Elisabeth Moll gave a brief presentation of the international Cisterscapes project. Its ultimate aim is to make the Zwettl monastic landscape, which was awarded the European Heritage Label in 2024, accessible to as wide an audience as possible. And is there a better way to explore a landscape by bike or on foot? That is why the Interreg project ‘Cisterscapes VB-Zw-ZnS’ focuses on hiking and cycling as well as digital and traditional educational programmes.
Improving cycling facilities
City councillors Alexander Leutgeb and Paul Robl joined workshop participants in taking stock of the region's cycle paths. This shows that Zwettl is generally well positioned. After all, there are five Zwettl cycle paths and four mountain bike and gravel tours. Furthermore, four interregional cycle routes pass through the municipal area, as Monika Prinz and Desiree Berger from the touristinfo pointed out. However, everyone agreed that there is room for improvement. One of these would be to renew and standardise the signage, which should be implemented on the cycle paths as soon as possible.
Furthermore, new cycle paths leading to points of interest in the Zwettl monastic landscape have been developed as part of the Interreg project. These routes are now being expertly checked by Zwettl´s cycling enthusiasts. The paths are categorised, digitised and ultimately included in the new cycle map. In addition, a central starting point for cycle paths is to be created, where guests and locals can obtain all the information important for cyclists in one place. This means that the ‘cycle-free’ winter period will be put to good use with the necessary planning work, so that the updated routes will be available in top condition to cyclists in spring 2026.
The outdoor educational programmes in the Zwettl monastic landscape were very well received by a large group of cultural and leisure educators.
Leisure education programme takes shape
The Interreg project is also gaining momentum in the field of education. Feedback on the introduction of educational programmes in the Zwettl monastic landscape has been overwhelmingly positive. So many people accepted the invitation to the workshop on 7th November that the event had to be moved to the large conference room at short notice to accommodate everyone.
Archivists Andreas Gamerith and Elisabeth Moll took the opportunity to present the options for cooperation and already developed educational programmes to the large group of interested parties, including leisure, herb and forest educators. The spark was ignited, and the participants immediately contributed further ideas on how the significance of the Zwettl monastic landscape and its European heritage could be brought closer to a large audience in the most pleasing way. The next workshop is already planned for January, where the major topics of forest, meadow and water will be addressed in detail.
