On 18th June, the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme was presented by Stefano Dominioni, Executive Secretary of the EPA on Cultural Routes, at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Chamber of the Regions, chaired by Gunn Marit-Helgesen (Norway).

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is a pan-European political assembly. It has 324 representatives and 324 substitutes, all appointed for four years, representing over 200,000 local and regional authorities in the Council of Europe’s 47 member states. Its role is to promote local and regional democracy, improve local and regional governance and strengthen authorities' self-government. It pays particular attention to application of the principles laid down in the European Charter of Local Self-Government. It encourages the devolution and regionalisation processes, as well as trans-frontier co-operation between cities and regions.

This was also the occasion to present the Routes4U-project, a joint programme between the Council of Europe (Directorate General of Democracy) and the European Union (European Commission – DG REGIO). The 30-Month project (2017-20) enhances regional development through the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in the Baltic Sea, the Danube, the Adriatic and Ionian and the Alpine Region. These EU Macro-Regions encompass 27 countries with more than 340 million people.

Routes4U will stimulate new activities, encouraging the cultural heritage and tourism sector in a sustainable way and ensuring that economic use does not threaten the cultural heritage itself. Examples for concrete activities are the development of a trip-planner, the implementation of a grant-system for Cultural Routes, the creation of an e-learning course and the preparation of tourism products.

The presentation was followed by a fruitful exchange of views with members of the Congress. It was agreed that the Congress and the EPA on Cultural Routes will further strengthen their cooperation on regional development through the Cultural Routes.