On 14-15 December 2023, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland and Finnish Heritage Agency organised a Cultural Routes Forum in Jyväskylä. The Forum was held at the new Aalto 2 Museum Centre. It brought together some 15 representatives of Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe crossing Finland as well as actors actively developing activities related to the Cultural Routes programme.
The idea for the forum was introduced in the Roadmap for the National Development for Cultural Tourism (2023). Prepared over 2021-2023 in consultation with stakeholders, the Roadmap specifies the national development measures for cultural tourism in the coming years in Finland. Besides this, the Roadmap serves as the national document that guides the work on the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme.
The aim of the Forum is to support the national coordination of the Cultural Routes programme, while providing a platform for exchanging information, sharing good practices and challenges, and networking.
The December 2023 edition featured presentations by Mr James Simpson and Ms Maija Oinonen, who shared their experiences working with Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (St Olav Waterways / Route of St Olav Ways, and Alvar Aalto Route). The participants were also invited to a workshop focussing on how the Cultural Routes in Finland could strengthen their cooperation, and consider how the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe Forum could become a useful tool in this perspective.
The results of the workshop and lively discussions over the two days will be taken into account in the planning of future editions of the Forum.
Finland has been a member of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) since 2018, and is currently crossed by 9 certified Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, among which is the Alvar Aalto Route certified in 2021.
Emma HARJU, Senior Ministerial Adviser at the Ministry of Education and Culture, is Finland’s national representative of the Governing Board of the EPA on the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe.
