The certification “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” is a guarantee of excellence. Once a year, the certification is awarded to legally constituted networks focussing on a European theme and implementing activities in at least three Council of Europe member States.

The certification gives visibility to European initiatives which bring to life Council of Europe values, such as cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and mutual exchanges across borders. Through the Cultural Routes programme, the Council of Europe offers a model for transnational networks working on the promotion of European heritage. The Cultural Routes bring together, to name only a few, heritage sites, universities, national, regional and local authorities and socio-economic actors such as SMEs and tour operators.

 

Developing a Cultural Route requires to:

  1. Define a theme representative of European values common to several Council of Europe countries;
  2. Identify heritage elements, whether tangible and/or intangible;
  3. Create a network with a legal status, involving at least three Council of Europe countries;
  4. Coordinate common activities in the main field of actions (see certification's criteria below);
  5. Ensure a common visibility strategy and coherence of the project across involved countries.

 

The rules for the award of the certification as “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” are defined in the Committee of Ministers  Resolution CM/Res(2013)67.

Only networks that deal with a European theme (I), comply with the priority fields of actions (II) and are presented by a single network (III) will be considered for certification.

I. Themes criteria

The themes must satisfy all of the following criteria: 

  • Be representative of European values and common to at least three countries of Europe;
  • Be researched and developed by groups of multidisciplinary experts from different regions of Europe;
  • Be illustrative of European memory, history, and heritage and contribute to an interpretation of the diversity of present-day Europe;
  • Lend itself to cultural and educational exchanges for young people;
  • Permit the development of initiatives and exemplary projects in the field of cultural tourism and sustainable cultural development;
  • Lend itself to the development of tourist products in partnership with tourist agencies and operators.

II. Field of action

Projects must pertain to all the following priority fields of action:

1. Co-operation in research and development: projects must play a unifying role around major European themes and show how these themes are representative of European shared values

2. Enhancement of memory, history and European heritage: projects must enhance tangible and intangible heritage, especially in lesser know areas, and explain their historical significance through Europe

3. Cultural and educational exchanges for young Europeans:  projects must organise activities with young people in order to promote the concept of European citizenship

4. Contemporary cultural and artistic practice: projects must encourage activities and artistic practice which explore the links between their European theme and contemporary culture

5. Cultural tourism and sustainable cultural development: project must promote dialogue between urban and rural cultures, developed and disadvantaged regions, and between majority and minority. They must actively involve media and seek partnerships with tourism organisations to draw attention on their European heritage and be part of the sustainable territorial development

III. Network criteria

Project initiators shall form multidisciplinary networks located in several Council of Europe member States. Such networks must:

  • present a conceptual framework based on research carried out into the theme chosen and accepted by the different network partners
  • involve several Council of Europe member States (at least three) through all or part of their project(s)
  • 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