2012 - 25 years of Council of

Europe cultural routes

Activities of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA)Vilnius, 6 December 2012

Penelope Denu,

Executive Secretary, EPA

Director, European Institute of Cultural Routes

What is a Council of Europe

cultural route?

According to Resolution CM/Res(2010)53:

“Cultural Route: a cultural, educational heritage and tourism co-operation project aiming at the development and promotion of an itinerary or a series of itineraries based on a historic route, a cultural concept, figure or phenomenon with a transnational importance and significance for the understanding and respect of common European values.”

The Council of Europe’s cultural routes programme now includes 24 certified routes, from the Saint James Ways to the Route of the Olive tree, as well as the Via Regia and the Via Francigena. They share the objective of illustrating European cultures, traditions and heritage, promoting intercultural dialogue and respectful, sustainable cultural tourism.

Council of Europe cultural routes in Europe

Types of cultural route differ:

The network of Saint James of Compostela

Significant European cemeteries

All of the routes serve to communicate

the values of the Council of Europe

to local populations

They are are grass-roots vectors of cultural cooperation …

… offering possibilities for regional social and sustainable economic development

… and helping to promote intercultural dialogue, including in its religious dimension, wherever they are

The European Institute of Cultural

Routes in Luxembourg

• the “technical agency” of the Council of Europe for the programme

• funded by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

• directed by the EPA executive secretary

• its main tasks are evaluating the conformity of routes with Resolution (2010)52, assessing new projects for certification, providing information, documentation and training on cultural routes management

• 2011-2012, 24 evaluations of existing routes and new projects

• 2012-2013, 10 evaluations

• around 20 new projects are receiving advice and assistance

Resolution Res(2010)53

The EPA:

•“shall contribute to the development and promotion of the Cultural Routes concept in all its aspects in order to raise awareness globally of Europe as a tourism destination of a unique value and quality.”

•“It shall seek to shape a shared cultural space through the development of Cultural Routes aiming to foster awareness-raising about heritage, education, networking, quality and sustainable cross-border tourism and other related activities.”

The Enlarged Partial

Agreement (EPA)

•adopted by 13 member states in December 2010 for a trial period until December 2013

•3 accessions and 2 notification of accession since June this year (Lithuania, Serbia, Andorra, Monaco and Germany), a total 19 member states in January 2013

•expected results for the end of 2013 are 10 new member states, 10 new routes and a training programme for routes managers by the end of 2013

The budget

Three main sources:

•EPA member states contributions since the adoption of Resolution Res(2010)53 establishing the partial agreement:

•Luxembourg Grand Duchy which finances the running costs of the institute

•European Commission (currently DG ENTR, Tourism Unit) in the framework of Joint Programmes

(plus some additional funding from other European programmes in which the Institute participates)

Activities in 2012

Activities in 2012

• European Commission Crossroads of Europe event, Pavia, June

European Commission “Crossroads of Europe”

5-7 June, Pavia, Italy

Activities in 2012 (continued)

First cultural routes Summer Seminar at the European Youth Centre, Strasbourg, 3-7 September

Salon du patrimoine

Carrousel du Louvre, 7-11 November

Recent developments

• 21 November, 25th anniversary of the cultural routes programme, opening of the exhibition on the cultural routes in the main hall of the Palais de l’Europe

• Annual Advisory Forum, 22-23 November, Colmar, an occasion for routes to meet and to meet the routes. The Forum looked back on 25 years of Council of Europe Cultural Routes and outlined future orientations,

adopting a “Colmar Declaration”

The Colmar Declaration – a roadmap

for the future•A representative of the routes was elected and will request observer status with the statutory bodies

•The European Commission, UNESCO, the UNWTO and OECD pledged to share knowledge and experience and to work together on specific relevant topics

•Universities involved in training and capacity-building in cultural tourism decided to set up a network for Council of Europe cultural routes studies

•Good practices in regional development would be drawn together in a corpus of experiences and promoted within the programme

Plans for 2013 - meetings

•Second Cultural Routes Summer Seminar (offers to

host from Trondheim, Grenada, Ravello…)

•Advisory Forum 2013 (in Innsbruck)

•Regional seminars in member states of the EPA

•Thematic seminars in Luxembourg

Plans for 2013 - tools

•Publication of the first handbook on design and

management of cultural routes

Launch of a new website for the Institute…

new visibility tools (“living library” videos, etc.)

Thank you for your attention