Venice lagoon includes a wide variety of ecosystems and habitats, as: littorals, shallows, shoals, salt-marshes, islands, canals, freshwater habitats at the lagoon borders, etc. This complex coastal system requires a wide program of protection and re-qualification interventions. The following three cases are illustrated as examples of design activities carried out in the Venice lagoon, representing the heterogeneity and complexity of this system. • Protection and restoration of coastal dune habitats of the Alberoni littoral. The activity included the preliminary and definitive design of interventions in one of the largest (160 ha) and best preserved dune systems of the Northern Adriatic Sea. Interventions not only deal with protection and restoration of dune habitats but also includes measures aiming to improve sustainable tourism and visitors awareness (e.g. walking pathways, information points, etc.). • Hydro-morphological requalification of the lagoon area in the Campagna Lupia municipality (southern Venice lagoon). Designed interventions also aims to improve the accessibility to the interested areas, thus supporting tourism activities. • Environmental, hydrodynamic and morphological requalification of the Valle Millecampi area in the southern part of the Venice lagoon. As for the above cases, the tourism accessibility to and attractivity of the area has been taken in consideration in the design of interventions (e.g. slow mobility facilities as biking and horse riding trails, environmental education centre, bird-watching facilities, fishing-tourism facilities, etc.).
