logo Council of Europe
Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes | 32 Member States, 33 Cultural Routes
Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe Newsletter October 2018

Council of Europe: 2018 EPA Statutory Committee on Cultural Routes
On 23 October 2018, the Committee of the members States of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA) met in the premises of the Council of Europe (Palais de l’Europe, Strasbourg), where they discussed budgets, the updated programme of activities 2018 and the draft programme 2019.

The meeting was also the opportunity to discuss the latest trends for Cultural Routes, and for the Committee of member States of the EPA to have an exchange of views with the Secretariat.
European Parliament: Presentation at the EP Intergroup on Cultural routes
Dedicated to the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage, the Intergroup meeting on Cultural Routes “European tourism development, cultural heritage, Way of St. James and other European cultural routes” was held on 9 October 2018 at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Ambassador Zoltan Taubner, Director of the Liaison Office of the Council of Europe with the EU in Brussels, highlighted how European Cultural Routes also play a role at the local level, involving different stakeholders. Another meeting of the intergroup will be held in early 2019 to evaluate the achievements of the European Year of Cultural Heritage.
Paris, France: Salon International du Patrimoine Culturel 2018
At the occasion of the International Heritage Fair in Paris, France (25-28 October 2018) focused on “European heritage, shared heritage”, the European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR), the Secretariat of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes and European Heritage Days co-hosted a stand visited by over 20,000 Salon visitors.

The Council of Europe and the EICR were honored by the presence of Mrs. Catherine LALUMIERE, former Secretary General of the Council of Europe (1989-1994) who spoke at the Conference on "Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe/EHDs" as well as by the visit to their stand of Mrs. Brigitte MACRON.
Belgrade, Serbia: Cultural Routes programme at the 8th South East Europe Tourism Conference
On 3 October 2018, the 8th Business Conference on South East Europe Tourism 2018 was held in Belgrade, Serbia. Under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, this international conference focused on identifying new opportunities for increase in revenues from South East Europe tourism market.

At the moment, five Cultural Routes are crossing Serbia: Transromanica, Iter Vitis, the European Cemeteries Route, Réseau Art Nouveau Network and the Roman Emperors and Danube Wine Route.
Sofia, Bulgaria: Cultural Routes programme at the 7th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region
In 2018, the rotating Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) has been taken over by Bulgaria. As a key event of the 2018 EUSDR Presidency, the 7th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region was held in Sofia on 18-19 October 2018. Jointly organised by Bulgaria and by the European Commission (DG REGIO), in cooperation with the Danube Transnational Programme, the event focused on tourism development and preservation of cultural heritage as a precondition to economic growth and territorial cohesion.

The programme is available online here.
From our Cultural Routes: Phoenicians’ Route, Cyprus: new member joins the Route
The 2018 General Assembly of the Phoenicians’ Route International Scientific Committee took place in Zagreb (Croatia) on October 9th and 10th, hosted by the Ministry of Tourism of Croatia and LIBERTAS University. At this occasion, the International Confederation of the Phoenicians’ Route welcomed Pafos Regional Board of Tourism as a new member, making Cyprus a new member country of the Phoenicians' Route. During the General Assembly the prof. Rachid Chamoun has been appointed as new President (2018-2020) of the Phoenicians' Route.

Cyprus has been member of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes since 2011; the second Cultural Route crossing the country is the Route of the Olive Tree.
From our Cultural Routes: Réseau Art Nouveau Network, Norway: Jugenstildagene in Alesund
On 21-22 October, the Réseau Art Nouveau Network (RANN) organized an event giving the audience an opportunity to explore and get exceptional access to Ålesund’s architectural wealth. The purpose of the project was to increase the understanding of the Art Nouveau style and to strengthen the synergy between urban heritage and urban development. Bringing an international dimension to the event, the seminar included a lecture given by Barcelona RANN members about managing Barcelona as an Art Nouveau Heritage Site.

The programme of the event can be found online here.
From our Cultural Routes: Hanseatic Day in Pskov, Russia: preparation meeting
The Hanseatic Commission came together in Pskov, Russia, to follow the preparations of the 39th Hanseatic Day that will take place on 27-30 June 2019. The motto of the event is “Coming together”. The program will include a rich cultural program, a Hanseatic market and a business conference where tourism in particular will be highlighted.

The 2018 edition of the Hanseatic Day brought together 450.000 visitors; 105 Hanseatic cities from 16 countries were present at the exhibition market. The brochure of the 2018 edition is available online here.
From our Cultural Routes: Iter Vitis, France: 6 pre-selected competitors for the national Iter Vitis Award
The Cultural Route “Iter Vitis” launched national and European Awards aiming to reveal, support and promote the development of local initiatives and to highlight the wine heritage in each member country of the Route.

With a view to the European selection, Iter Vitis France organized the national selection of 28 candidates, out of which 6 have been pre-selected (see the national finalists here). The awards ceremony for the winner of the national selection will take place on 20 November in Paris, in the framework of the National Conferences on wine tourism. France is therefore in the running for the European Iter Vitis Award, which will be granted on 6 December in Brussels.
Support the candidates on the Facebook page @IterVitisAwards.
From our Cultural Routes: Santiago de Compostela Pilgrim Routes, Russia: international conference on spiritual tourism
Organised by the Margarita Rudomino All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature, the Association “Holy Places of Undivided Christianity” and the Russian State Library, the conference “Cultural and spiritual tourism as factors of the all-European dialogue" on 10 October 2018 was the occasion to present two Cultural Routes projects currently being developed in Russia: the Holy Places of Undivided Christianity and Peter the Great.

Contacts between the Cultural Route Santiago de Compostela Pilgrim Routes (1987) and the project Holy Places of Undivided Christianity have been established during the last Cultural Routes Training Academy in Yuste last June, which have been materialized by a cooperative partnership signed during the 8th Annual Advisory Forum on Cultural Routes in Görlitz (Germany).
From our Cultural Routes: Via Francigena and European Historic Thermal Towns Association launch the project “Thermal Via Francigena”
The project “Thermal Via Francigena”, presented on 10 October in Florence, Italy, aims to offer a service to travellers who wish to combine their pilgrim journey with a well-being experience through physical relaxation and thermal water. At the moment, six spa societies have joined the project, to be extended to other regions of the Route.

In order to further promote its Cultural Route, the Via Francigena also signed an agreement with the French “Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre”, a network committed to the development of national hiking trails. The aim of the Via Francigena is to network the territories so that the project of a single, well-organised European path from Canterbury to Rome can be realised.
From our Cultural Routes: EHTTA, Hungary: 100th anniversary of The Gellert Spa in Budapest
Opened in 1918, the Gellert Bath is one of the most famous thermal spa baths in Europe. On the occasion of the Gellert’s 100th anniversary, the scientific committee of the European Historic Thermal Towns Association (EHTTA) organized a conference and reception on 12 October 2018, attended by high level representatives from all over Europe as well as interested media.

The programme included presentations and an exchange about European projects like the World Heritage candidature “Great Spas of Europe” or “the Atlas”, a GIS (Geoportal Information System) database to be developed by the association.

See the video of the event here.
Cultural Route project meets at the EICR, Luxembourg: Via Memoria Mathausen
On 8 October, Mr. Guy Dockendorf, former President of the EICR, and Mr. Andreas Baumgartner, representative of the International Mauthausen Committee, came to the European Institute on Cultural Routes to discuss their Cultural Route project: Via Memoria Mathausen, Concentration camp landscapes and territories.

The International Mauthausen Committee, which emerged from illegal resistance groups in Nazi camps, was formed as an association after the war, with headquarters in Vienna (Austria). As of today, the Committee counts 22 member countries.
The European Routes of Jewish Heritage open a new call for Routes
The European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ) is working on a new project, called the AEPJ Incubator Project, based on the development of a new working plan to expand its range of Routes while opening a window to new transnational collaborations.

The deadline of this call for Routes is in December. In order to prepare the applications, a training will be organized in Barcelona, at the headquarters of the AEPJ. The projects submitted in December will be evaluated by the scientific committee, and in January, fifteen of these projects will be chosen and monitored for three years, to ensure their sustainable development.
Cultural Routes in the press
EPA on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe
European Institute of Cultural Routes
Abbaye de Neumünster, 28 rue Münster
L-2160 Luxembourg
Tel. +352 24 12 50

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Blog
www.coe.int/routes
logo Council of Europe