At the initiative of Ambassador Patrick Engelberg, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the Council of Europe, a briefing session about the Cultural Routes programme was organised for the permanent representatives of the members states of the Council of Europe and observers.

The session was held on 26 March at the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg and was attended by a high number of delegations, including from countries who are not yet members of the Cultural Routes programme.

The presentations by Ambassador Engelberg, Chair of the Statutory Committee of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA), Bjorn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe and Roberto Olla, Head of the Department for Democratic Freedoms and Institutions, focused on the achievements and role of the programme in supporting the implementation of the New Democratic Pact for Europe.

The Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is currently preparing a report on preserving European rural culture and heritage.

During its session in Paris on 12 March, the Secretariat of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe contributed to an exchange of views with the rapporteur, Zeynep Yildiz (Türkiye).

On this occasion, Simona Messina, Executive Secretary of the Transhumance Trails, presented concrete examples of practices implemented by the certified Route, highlighting the importance of rural development in keeping heritage, particularly intangible heritage, alive and relevant today.

The report is expected to be presented for adoption in 2027.

The Cultural Routes programme assigns an important role to young people and youth participation. For example, themes and activities of the routes must facilitate cultural and educational exchanges for young Europeans. The call of the Reykjavík Declaration for the inclusion of a youth perspective across the work of the Council of Europe further supports these aims and provides an opportunity to promote youth participation across the whole programme.

The Working Group on Youth Participation in the Cultural Routes met for the first time in Luxembourg on 16 and 17 March to review the status and forms of youth participation in the routes. It brings together representatives of the Advisory Council on Youth, the European Youth Card Association and youth leaders from the youthHansa and the ERIH Young Professionals Network. The groups medium-term proposals on how to improve youth engagement in the Programme and the cultural routes themselves will be presented at the meeting of the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement in May.

The seminar “Republic of Moldova in the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe” took place from 15 to 17 April in Chișinău, bringing together ten Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe and more than 50 local participants.

The seminar was co-organised by the ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova, the National Tourism Office and the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, within the programme of the Presidency of the Republic of Moldova of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Aimed to enhance the visibility and engagement of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in the Republic of Moldova, the seminar facilitated contacts between the Moldovan stakeholders and certified Cultural Routes. Furthermore, it provided an overview of the main characteristics of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe for local stakeholders and offered practical next steps for further collaboration and partnerships.

The fifth meeting of managers of Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in in Spain was held in Huelva, Spain, from 23 to 25 March.

Organised by the ministry of Culture of Spain, in cooperation with the province of Huelva (Andalucia), the meeting brought together a very representative group of cultural routes stakeholders in Spain, with a particular attention to academic institutions and research centres, owing to the focus of this year’s meeting.

The discussions focused on the role of knowledge and research networks in the development of the routes. This is a very important dimension of the programme as cultural routes need to be anchored in, and benefit from, solid multidisciplinary knowledge and research, important factors of their credibility and sustainability.

A Nordic–Baltic working group on cultural routes has completed a project called “Cultural Routes for Heritage Cooperation and Capacity Building”, that delivers practical materials to strengthen cultural routes of the Council of Europe work across the region. A newly released practical guidebook introduces the Cultural Routes Programme, outlines its benefits and opportunities and offers clear guidance on how cultural routes can be developed in practice.  

In addition to the guidebook, the project produced a workshop model with a set of questions to guide planning and brainstorming at different stages of cultural route development. Both the guidebook and the workshop model are designed as a hands‑on tool for certified cultural routes of the Council of Europe as well as for new route initiatives. 

The Megalithic Routes held their General Assembly in Viseu Portugal, from 31 March to 3 April 2026. The assembly accepted new members and elected a new president, professor António Faustino Carvalho (Portugal).

The meeting was enriched with presentations on megalithic monuments in Portugal, especially in the Dão-Lafões region, characterised by uniquely painted megaliths – and the challenges to preserve them. Field visits to impressive sites in the region brought participants closer to these millennial monuments and unique heritage.

In his address to the assembly Rui Gomes, Executive Secretary of the EPA on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, praised the Megalithic Routes for their development and growth. He also invited the route to remain closely involved in the programme, notably in the recently initiated processes of reflecting on representativeness of the programme, strengthening its youth dimension and support to Cultural Routes in Ukraine.