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Council of Europe and culture: overview

I am delighted to meet you here, in this magnificent setting, to open the Advisory Forum on Cultural Routes.

Centuries ago palaces were, of course, a sign of strength and power, but also of the pride and inventiveness of nations. And, as you all know, European societies have long conferred great importance on their surroundings.

Indeed, when the Council of Europe was founded in 1949 – in order to promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law as the basis of greater unity among our nations – it was entirely natural to identify culture and heritage as shared values. Five years later, our governments adopted the then ground-breaking European Cultural Convention, which set out:

“to develop mutual understanding among the peoples of Europe and reciprocal appreciation of their cultural diversity [and] to safeguard European culture”.

Because, even as Europe was picking itself up from the devastation of the Second World War, even though our nations were consumed with giant questions of economic and political stability, our leaders still understood that culture is part of Europe’s DNA – and that recognising our common heritage would help heal divisions and sustain the peace.

In the decades which followed, we built on this.

In 1985, in Granada, we signed our Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe, which boosted the protection given to monuments and their surroundings.

More recently, in 2005, we launched what is known as our Faro Treaty, under which governments explicitly recognise the relationship between people’s environments and their ability to live free and dignified lives.

So, over the years, what we mean by cultural heritage has transformed. We are no longer just speaking about palaces, or statues, or libraries, or historic city centres, or even landscapes. We are also talking about histories; social practices; rituals and beliefs; the skills and knowledge passed from one generation to the next; the traditions which have mixed and merged to shape our identities in ways you cannot understand simply by looking at a map.

Cultural Routes: overview

And it is against this rich understanding of heritage that our Cultural Routes play such an important role.

This programme began in 1987 with the Declaration of Santiago of Compostela. [It is a pleasure to have with us here one of the pioneers of that programme, José-Maria Ballester]. Since then, the number of certified Cultural Routes has risen to 33. 33 journeys through time and space to help us keep sight of where we came from, and who we are.

It is a privilege for me – as a devoted fan of this programme – to see so many of those Routes represented, and by so many of the people who make them a reality, every day, on the ground.

Some of the Routes are linear, based on medieval pilgrimages. Some are networks of places, linked by a common thread. Some are a hybrid of the two. But all are a combination of the tangible and intangible and all have human relationships at their heart.

And while many of the Routes celebrate the positive achievements of European culture – from Mozart, to ceramics, to historic thermal towns, to the olive tree – we are also beginning to see those which tackle the darker side of our history, too.

The ATRIUM Route showcases 20th century totalitarian architecture, and in doing so explores our so-called ‘dissonant heritage’. Going further back, the Route of Huguenot heritage recalls the difficulties of protestant exile from France in the 18th Century. The Via Regia confronts the unification of a Europe divided between “capitalist” and “communist” regimes.

This development is welcome, and it is a sign of how much of our history the Routes are yet to uncover.

Equally welcome has been the growth in political support for the project. In recent years the number of Council of Europe member states involved has risen to 24.

An Enlarged Partial Agreement was signed in 2010, opening up opportunities for greater cooperation between governments – and also the greater involvement of grassroots networks and associations, local and regional authorities, universities and professional organisations too. 

Thank partners

I would like to thank the Government of Luxembourg – and in particular the Ministry for Culture, represented here by the President of the European Institute of Cultural Routes, Colette Flesch – for their constant support.

The Luxembourg Institute’s core business is assisting Certified Routes and candidates, and evaluating proposed Routes with a view to certification. With each year that passes the Institute amasses unique and unprecedented experience in this field. I know that the Routes and those who work on them greatly value its stamp of approval and its support.

I would also like to thank the European Commission for their support since 2010. You will hear more about our joint programmes in the next session. As a next step I would love to see the European Union sign up to the Enlarged Partial Agreement, as a block, and I hope that this will be given serious consideration in the future.

And, of course, let me thank the UNWTO, who will henceforth be an observer to the Partial Agreement, and to our friends in UNESCO and the OECD, with whom we are discussing future collaboration. The Routes have a lot to contribute, for instance, to the OECD’s surveys on the creative economy and its development. And these partners have a lot to contribute to the Routes.

Challenges for the future

So we have come a long way. The question is: where next?

I have never believed in setting arbitrary targets – X number of Routes by year Y, for example. But I do believe that we should be emboldened by our success and I see great potential for the future.

I urge you to spend these days thinking about the challenges ahead, and I would like to leave you with a number of questions, which I hope will feature in your discussions.

First: as the programme grows, how do we retain our model of excellency?

We are extremely rigorous in the way in which we evaluate and certify routes. Indeed, since the Enlarged Partial Agreement was adopted, 7 Routes have had their certification withdrawn and a further two will be withdrawn in 2016.

These decisions are not easy, but they are necessary. If we drop our standards, that would be the beginning of the end. Certification must continue to be the hallmark of high quality.

But we are expanding – and this is also a good thing. So what can we do to ensure existing Routes continue to meet the highest possible standards, and that proposed routes with strong potential meet the mark too. How can we develop our practical support? Can the Routes help each other? What will this mean for governance structures, too?

Two: as the number of partner organisations grows, how do we avoid duplication, or even, competition?

The Routes have benefited immeasurably from the contribution of the European Commission, the UNWTO and the European Travel Commission – in terms of capacity building, training and visibility.

But as someone who has worked in an international institution all of her professional life, I can tell you that we in the international fora sometimes lose sight of our areas of unique competence – and I’m sure our partners won’t mind me saying so.

So, as we move ahead, doing more to collaborate, how can we avoid this predictable pitfall and ensure that we all continue to pull in the same direction?

Three: how can we encourage more routes spanning from West to East?

At the moment the routes are still concentrated in the “old” centre of Europe: France, Italy, Spain and Germany. This is not exclusively the case. The ATRIUM route, for example, travels from Italy to Bulgaria. The Roman Emperors Route along the Danube is an excellent example of co-operation between Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania. The Route of Napoleonic heritage, newly-certified in 2015, is working with Belarus.

How, over time, can we shift the centre of gravity of the network, so that Eastern Europe is better represented - which would present new opportunities for intercultural dialogue and international co-operation?

Four: how can we make the routes as accessible as possible?

The Institute has introduced bloggers’ trips, which is a great initiative in terms of online visibility. How else can we spread the word, particularly through social media and public awareness campaigns? The Routes are a fantastic asset and they should be enjoyed by as many people as possible.

Which leads me to my final question: how can we increase the socio-economic impact of these programmes?

We know that the Routes boost tourism, create jobs, and help bring business to many SMEs. We are now working on specific indicators, which will explain this impact in a more comprehensive and systematic way. And I am very keen to know, from you, how we can ensure that the Routes bring maximum benefits to the communities they touch.

As I said before, you are the people who make these routes a reality. You understand them better than any of us and you are the reason they are such a success. With that, thank you very much.