The history of the Cultural Routes pogramme of the Council of Europe dates back to 1964 when the working group L'Europe continue in the Council of Europe took the cultural geography of Europe as starting point to develop a touristical network. This idea was then realised in the eighties of the 20th century as a “Council for Cultural Cooperation” defined European Cultural Routes officially: “By European cultural route one understands a trajectory covering one or more countries or regions, organised around topics whose historical, artistic or social interest proves to be European, either because of the geographical layout of the route, or due to its contents and significance.“

So the awareness for a common European culture should be raised through special places and routes. In 1987 on suggestion of the Council of Europe the pilgrimage pathes to Santiago de Compostela have been inaugurated as first European Cultural Route. In the meantime several projects have been awarded. Within the Council of Europe the Cultural Routes enjoy a special position. The affinity between space and memory is not only proclaimed but practical realised through the acknowledgement of Cultural Routes.

Hereafter you find the official document of the Council of Europe that is the base for the Cultural Routes programme:

Resolution CM/Res(2007)12 on the cultural routes of the Council of Europe
(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 10 October 2007 at the 1006th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies)

The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 15.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe,

• Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members and that this aim may be pursued through joint action in the cultural field;
• Considering that the main aims of European cultural co-operation are to promote the European identity in its unity and its diversity; to preserve the diversity of Europe’s cultures; to encourage intercultural dialogue and to facilitate conflict prevention and reconciliation;
• Considering that highlighting the influences, exchanges and developments which have formed the European identity can facilitate awareness of a European citizenship based on the sharing of common values;
• Considering that it is essential for younger generations to acquire this awareness of a European identity and citizenship and the common values on which they are based;
• Considering that in order to uphold these common values and make them more tangible, it is necessary to promote an understanding of Europe's history on the basis of its physical, intangible and natural heritage, so as to bring out the links which unite its various cultures and regions;
• Noting that the identification of European values and a common European cultural heritage may be achieved via cultural routes tracing the history of peoples, migrations, and the spread of the major European currents of civilisation in the fields of philosophy, religion, culture, the arts, science, technology and trade;
• Aware that such routes lend themselves to long-term European co-operation programmes in the fields of research, heritage enhancement, culture and the arts, cultural and educational youth exchanges, cultural tourism in Europe and sustainable cultural development;
• Considering that such co-operation mobilises and brings together a large number of individuals, organisations, institutions and structures in Europe, and thereby contributes to the process of European construction;
• Considering that in order to provide an intellectual and technical support to this co-operation, which requires considerable human and financial resources, a formal operational framework should be established enabling the re-affirmation of fundamental values, the qualitative and quantitative assessment of implementation, training of actors and a coherent communication;
• Considering that such a framework enables common objectives to be pursued and guarantees the quality of the initiatives undertaken,

Adopts this resolution which annuls and replaces Resolution (98) 4 on the cultural routes of the Council of Europe of 17 March 1998;

Adopts the rules appended to this resolution as a formal operational framework for the Council of Europe's Cultural Routes Programme.

Appendix to Resolution CM/Res(2007)12 - Rules

These rules should be regarded as a formal framework for the implementation of the Council of Europe's Cultural Routes Programme. The routes are to be centred on a theme, which, in order to qualify for the programme, must fulfil a series of criteria, listed in Part I.

Each theme or sub-theme is to be dealt with in a series of co-operation projects. Part II of the rules lists the priority fields of action for these projects. Project initiators must form a network so as to improve co-operation and pool their experience. In order to be approved, these networks must in turn satisfy a number of criteria, listed in Part III.

When a theme or a sub-theme is approved by the responsible committee and the co-operation activities related to it are undertaken by an approved network, it may receive the certification “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” which is presented in Part IV.

I. List of eligibility criteria for themes

Themes for the Council of Europe’s Cultural Routes Programme are approved by the committee responsible for the programme. For a theme to be eligible for the Council of Europe's Cultural Routes Programme, it must satisfy all of the following criteria:/p>

• the theme must be representative of European values and common to several countries of Europe;
• the theme must be researched and developed by groups of multidisciplinary experts from different regions of Europe so as to ensure that the activities and projects which illustrate it are based on consensus;
• the theme must be illustrative of European memory, history and heritage, refer to at least one of the three topics in the general conceptual framework proposed by the programme (peoples, migrations, broad currents of civilisation) and contribute to an interpretation of the diversity of present-day Europe;
• the theme must lend itself to cultural and educational exchanges for young people and hence be in line with the Council of Europe's ideas and concerns in these fields;
• the theme must permit the development of initiatives and exemplary and innovative projects in the field of cultural tourism and sustainable cultural development;
• the theme must lend itself to the development of tourist products in partnership with tourist agencies and operators aimed at different publics, including school groups;
• the theme must permit the implementation of long-term, multilateral, co-operative projects in various fields of action (see the list of priority fields of action in Part II) through the setting up of multidisciplinary networks located in several Council of Europe member states (see the list of criteria for networks in Part III).

II. List of priority fields of action

Each theme must give rise to several long-term, multidisciplinary, co-operative projects (criterion No. 7 in Part I); for optimum achievement of the aims of the programme, priorities have been established by the Council of Europe in five fields of action which lend themselves in particular to such co-operative projects.

1. Co-operation in research and development
In this field of action, projects must:

• play a unifying role around major European themes, enabling dispersed knowledge to be brought together;
• show how these themes are representative of European values shared by several European cultures;
• illustrate the development of these values and the variety of forms they may take in Europe;
• lend themselves to research and interdisciplinary analysis on both a theoretical and a practical level.

2. Enhancement of the memory, history and European heritage
In this field of action, projects must:

• enhance physical and intangible heritages, explain their historical significance and highlight their similarities in the different regions of Europe;
• take account of and promote the charters, conventions, recommendations and work of the Council of Europe, UNESCO and ICOMOS relating to heritage restoration, protection and enhancement, landscape and spatial planning;
• identify and enhance European heritage sites and areas other than the monuments and sites generally exploited by tourism, in particular in rural areas, but also in industrial areas in the process of economic restructuring;
• take account of the physical and intangible heritage of ethnic or social minorities in Europe;
• contribute through appropriate training, to raising awareness among decision makers, practitioners and the general public of the complex concept of heritage, the necessity to protect, interpret and communicate it as a means for sustainable development, and the challenges and opportunities it represents for the future of Europe.

3. Cultural and educational exchanges for young Europeans
In this field of action, projects must:

• include the organisation of activities with groups of young people in order to promote in-depth exchanges aimed at developing the concept of European citizenship, enriched by its diversity;
• place the emphasis on personal and real experiences through the use of places and contacts;
• encourage decompartmentalisation by organising exchanges of young people from different social backgrounds and regions of Europe;
• constitute pilot schemes with a limited number of participating countries and be provided with sufficient resources for meaningful assessment in order to generate prototypes that can serve as reference models;
• give rise to programmes and co-operation schemes which involve educational institutions at various levels.

4.Contemporary cultural and artistic practice
In this field of action, projects must:

• give rise to debate and exchange, in a multidisciplinary and intercultural perspective, between the various cultural and artistic expressions and sensibilities of the different countries of Europe;
• encourage activities and artistic projects which explore the links between heritage and contemporary culture;
• highlight, in contemporary cultural and artistic practice, the most innovative practices in terms of creativity, and link them with the history of skills development, whether they belong to the field of the visual arts, the performing arts, creative crafts, architecture, music, literature or any other form of cultural expression;
• give rise to networks and activities which break down the barriers between professionals and non-professionals, particularly as regards instruction for young Europeans in the relevant fields.

5.Cultural tourism and sustainable cultural development
In this field of action, projects must:

• take account of local, regional, national and European identities;
• actively involve print and broadcast media and make full use of the potential of electronic media in order to raise awareness of the cultural objectives of the projects;
• promote dialogue between urban and rural cultures, between regions in the south, north, east and west of Europe, and between developed and disadvantaged regions;
• promote dialogue and understanding between majority and minority, native and immigrant cultures;
• open up possibilities for co-operation between Europe and other continents through the special affinities between certain regions;
• concern themselves, in the field of cultural tourism, with raising public awareness, drawing decision makers' attention to the necessity of protecting heritage as part of sustainable development of the territory and seek to diversify both supply and demand, with a view to fostering the development of quality tourism with a European dimension;
• seek partnerships with public and private organisations active in the field of tourism in order to develop tourist products and tools targeting all potential publics.

III. List of criteria for networks

Project initiators shall form multidisciplinary networks located in several member states. Such networks must be approved by the Council of Europe in accordance with a specific appraisal procedure and undergo periodic evaluation.

1. Approval criteria for networks
To be approved, networks must:

• choose a theme or an aspect of a theme approved by the committee responsible for the Council of Europe's Cultural Routes Programme, or propose a new theme;
• present a conceptual framework based on research carried out into the theme chosen and accepted by the different network partners;
• involve several member countries through all or part of their project(s), without excluding activities of a bilateral nature;
• plan to involve as large a number as possible of States Parties to the European Cultural Convention
  (ETS No. 18) as well as, where appropriate, other states;
• ensure that the projects proposed are financially and organisationally viable;
• have a legal status, either in the form of an association or a federation of associations;
• operate democratically;
• provide all the necessary material for the appraisal of their project(s) and for the evaluation of their activities (see points 2 and 3 below).

2. Appraisal of a proposed network
In order for a proposed network to be accepted, it must undergo, following a favourable opinion of the competent governmental bodies, an appraisal procedure based on the following criteria:

• the proposed theme must correspond to the eligibility criteria set out in Part I or fit into an existing theme of the Council of Europe's Cultural Routes Programme;
• the proposed network must:
  • offer a comprehensive programme and specify its objectives, methods, partners, participating countries (current and envisaged), the fields of action involved and the overall development of the programme in the medium and long term;
  • identify, in the various member countries, the main initiators, participants and other potential partners likely to form a network; specify, where appropriate, at international level, other partner organisations;
  • specify the regions concerned by the project;
  • provide details of its financing and operational plan;
  • append the basic text(s) relating to its legal status.

IV. Certification

• The certification “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” can be awarded to cultural route projects which correspond to an approved theme and complies with the criteria of five priority fields of action (Part II above).
  
  It is awarded by the committee responsible for the Cultural Routes Programme on a proposal from the advisory committee. Projects and themes which help to achieve the Council of Europe political priority objectives are particularly encouraged. The certification “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” can only be awarded if a network responsible for the project has been approved.
• Following the award of the certification, the entire mention “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” and the logo of the Council of Europe must be placed on all communication material, including press releases. A manual with recommendations (or vade-mecum) will be provided to networks, in particular as concerns the road signposts.
  
  Whenever possible, the certification accompanied by the Council of Europe logo must appear on road signs and boards indicating the cultural route.
• Evaluation of networks responsible for projects having received the certification “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe”.
  
  In order to retain their approved status, networks must submit every three years a report enabling the Council of Europe to evaluate their activities in order to ascertain whether they continue to satisfy the criteria in Parts II, III and IV.2 above.

If the committee responsible for the Cultural Routes Programme finds the compliance with parts I, II, III and IV.2 above unsatisfactory it will issue a recommendation in order to ensure this compliance. If the recommendation is not followed within a year, the committee may withdraw the certification.


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