Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in the UK: Opportunities and Challenges

The Council of Europe’s Cultural Routes Programme has been running successfully for over thirty years, linking destinations, heritage sites, museums and monuments across Europe for the purposes of cultural tourism, heritage protection and promotion, education and sustainable development. These trans-national networks follow former pilgrimage and trade routes and the ways of historic journeys so as to connect places and communities through common heritage and shared themes – from architecture to gastronomy, to the figures and events of European history, art, music and literature (https://www.coe.int/en/web/cultural-routes/by-theme). These certified routes display a rich diversity of cultures but also the historic connections that continue to the present. Importantly, the Cultural Routes are instruments of local and regional economic and cultural development, through tourism, the creative industries, community engagement and place-making.

Nearly seventy sites and organisations across the United Kingdom participate in sixteen of the Council of Europe’s Cultural Routes. They are linked into opportunities for tourism, cultural and artistic exchange, youth development, education and research. As the Cultural Routes Programme expands, there are further opportunities to increase the UK’s involvement with the 46 Council of Europe member states, to initiate new networks and routes and to develop membership of the Enlarged Partial Agreement (EPA) on Cultural Routes.

This workshop brings together the UK members of the Cultural Routes Programme, along with relevant national UK heritage and tourism organisations, to explore the opportunities and challenges that the cultural routes present. It is designed to raise the profile of those Cultural Routes in which the UK is represented and to highlight future directions for further development.

Speakers:

Ambassador Sandy Moss, UK Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe

Dr Stefano Dominioni, Chief Executive, European Institute of Cultural Routes

Luca Bruschi, Route Manager of the Via Frangicena

James Bridge, Chief Executive, UK National Commission, UNESCO

Julien Vuilleumeir, Chair, Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe

Professor Mike Robinson, Professor of Cultural Heritage, Nottingham Trent University

Paul Simons, Secretary General, The Great Spa Towns of Europe UNESCO World Heritage Site

Rémi Praud, Managing Director, Liberation Route Europe

Destination Viking Route

In the Footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson Route

Topics to be discussed include:

• The UK and the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe
• Building European partners and networks through the Cultural Routes Programme
• Synergies with other heritage and cultural designations (World Heritage, Creative Cities etc.)
• Sustainable tourism development
• Promotion and marketing of trans-national routes
• Route-based communities, economies and place-making
• Funding for cultural route development

Key Questions for the Workshop:

What further opportunities exist to enhance the profile of existing UK Cultural Routes members and their sites/communities?

What opportunities exist for UK heritage, cultural and tourism sites and organisations to join with other established Cultural Routes?

What new networks and relationships can be established between UK Cultural Route members and other UK cultural/heritage/tourism agencies?

What opportunities exist for the innovation of new Cultural Routes led by UK members and that can seek accreditation through the Council of Europe?

Current UK Members of the Council of Europe’s Accredited Cultural Routes Programme:

Other Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe represented include:

• In the footsteps of Robert Louis Stevenson
• European Historic Gardens Route
• European Route of Ceramics
• European Cemeteries Route
• European Route of Industrial Heritage
• European Route of Cistercian Abbeys
• European Route of Jewish Heritage

Day One - Monday 13^th June

Session 1

9.15 – 10.00 Registration and Coffee

10.00 – 10.10 Professor Mike Robinson (Professor of Cultural Heritage, Nottingham Trent University) - Opening Words

10.10 – 10.20 Professor Cillian Ryan (Pro-Vice Chancellor, International Affairs, Nottingham Trent University) - Welcome

10.20 – 10.35 Ambassador Sandy Moss (UK Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe) – Overview – The Council of Europe Context

10.35 – 10.45 Julien Vuilleumier (Chair, Governing Board, Cultural Routes, Enlarged Partial Agreement) – Supporting the Cultural Routes Programme

10.45 – 11.15 Dr Stefano Dominioni (Chief Executive, European Institute for Cultural Routes) - The Concept and Success of the Cultural Routes Programme

11.15 – 11.45 Luca Bruschi (Manager of the Via Frangicena Cultural Route) - Building Networks and Local Economic Development: Experiences from the Via Francigena Route

11.45 – 12.15 Carolina Clark (Project Officer, European Institute of Cultural Routes) - Becoming a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe

12.15 – 12.45 Professor Mike Robinson – Opportunities for UK Cultural Route Development

12.45 – 1.45 Lunch

Session 2

1.45 – 3.00 Workshops Sessions - Challenges for Cultural Route Development

3.00 – 3.15 Coffee

3.15 – 4.30 Workshops Sessions - Challenges for Cultural Route Development

4.30 – 5.00 Feedback session

Day Two – Tuesday 14th June

Session 3

9.30 – 10.00 Registration and Coffee

10.00 – 10.20 Welcome by Professor Mike Robinson and Dr Stefano Dominioni

10.20 – 10.40 Andrea Mayne (UK National Commission for UNESCO) - Partnering with UNESCO Designations

10.40 – 11.10 Paul Simons (Secretary General, The Great Spa Towns of Europe UNESCO World Heritage Site) - Linking World Heritage and Cultural Routes: The Case of The Great Spas of Europe Thermal Towns Route and World Heritage Sites

11.10 – 11.40 Rémi Praud (Manager of The Liberation Route, Europe) - Developing Creative Approaches to the Memorial Heritage: The Liberation Route, Europe

11.40 – 12.10 Edmund Southworth (Former President, Destination Viking Cultural Route) - Experiencing the Vikings

12.10- 12.40 Maria Mystakidou (Communication Manager, Historic Cafes Route) and George Loverdos (Route Manager, Historic Cafes Route) - Cultural Routes and Opportunities for SMEs: The Historic Cafes of Europe

12.40 – 1.40 Lunch

Session 4

1.45 – 3.15 Workshop Sessions – Mapping New Opportunities for Cultural Route Development

3.15 – 3.30 Coffee

3.30 – 4.00 Feedback session

4.00 – 4.30 Closing Remarks / Next steps