Informal Contact Group

The 49 Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe form the core and spirit of the Programme.

Although diverse in purpose, structure and capacity, they share a common commitment to the programme’s principles, as defined by the Committee of Ministers and overseen by the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes.

As the programme continues to grow — with more member states and routes — it faces ongoing communication and cooperation challenges that require a coordinated, respectful and collective approach among all stakeholders.

After consultation with various routes and members of the Governing Board, the secretariat proposed the constitution of an Informal Contact Group of Cultural Routes.

Its purpose is to advise and support the secretariat by ensuring that the perspectives of the cultural routes are reflected in the development of the programme, and to serve as an interface between the secretariat and the cultural routes on networking and cooperation matters.

The Informal Contact Group is to be run as a pilot project from November 2025 to June 2027, under the authority of the Governing Board of the EPA and the Board of Directors of the Institute.

The Informal Contact Group of Cultural Routes is composed of Antonio Barone, Phoenicians’ Route; Benedetta Diamanti, European Route of Ceramics; Danko Ćosić, Roman Emperors and Danube Wine Route; Inger Harlevi, The Hansa; Simone Zagrodnik, European Route of Historical Thermal Towns; Quintín Correas Domingo, European Routes of Emperor Charles V. 

The report of the 1st meeting, held on 11-12 December 2025 in Luxembourg, is available here.

The terms of reference of the Informal Contact Group of Cultural Routes are available here.