Each year, the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) awards the certification "Cultural Route of the Council of Europe" to cultural route network applicants fulfilling the criteria set out in Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Resolution CM/Res(2023)2. 

The application process consists of the following steps:  

  1. Informing the EPA Secretariat of your interest in applying for certification by written letter (by 31st March, Year 0).  

  1. Preparing the application file (March-July, Year 0).  

  1. Attending a dedicated training seminar and advisory meeting organised by the Secretariat (May/June, Year 0).  

  1. Submitting a complete application by 31st July through a dedicated Council of Europe website (Year 0). 

  1. Replying to any additional requests for information from the independent expert (September – November, Year 0) and/or from the EPA Bureau (March-April, Year +1).  

  1. Presentation of the candidate network at the Cultural Routes Annual Advisory Forum (September/October, Year 0). 

  1. Audition at the EPA Governing Board meeting (Luxembourg - May, Year+1). 

  1. Notification of the final result of the application (June, Year+1). 

Should your cultural route network be interested in applying for the “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” certification, we kindly ask you to inform the Secretariat by written letter in English or French to the attention of Mr. Stefano Dominioni, Executive Secretary of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe and Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes, (By email to evaluation@culture-routes.lu ) no later than 31st March. 

A sample of the letter to be filled out by interested candidates is available here.  Upon reception of the letter, the Secretariat will acknowledge receipt of it and provide you with an editable certification form, instructions on how to submit your application and an invitation to a dedicated training seminar and an advisory meeting. Please note that the deadline for submitting all documentation as per decision by the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe is 31st July. 

 Applications for certification are composed of the following documents:  

1. Certification form completed (Document 1); 
2. Self-assessment grid completed (Document 2); 
3. Declaration of Honour completed and signed (Document 3); 
4. Updated legal statutes of the network; 
5. Updated list of members of the network; 
6. Ordinary and Extraordinary General Assembly meeting reports of the past three-years (if applicable); 
7. Budget documents of the network (Current operational budget; financial information of the past three years; 3-year Budget forecast; Extra-budgetary funding); 
8. 3-year Programme of activities forecast. 

 A certification form template can be downloaded here . 

A digital copy of the complete application must be submitted electronically via a dedicated Council of Europe website. Instructions on how to access and upload the documents to the platform will be sent to all applicants in due course. Documents shall be submitted in English or in French by 31st July.  

According to the Rules of Procedure of the EPA Governing Board, only complete applications will be considered. The Rules of Procedure also establish that  “An application by a candidate network may be submitted a maximum of three times. An application which has been denied certification by the Governing Board may be submitted again no earlier than 12 months following the date of the decision”. Therefore, it is advisable to verify that all criteria for certification are met by the candidate network and that the evaluation file is complete before its submission. 

The Secretariat should like to remind all applicants that all communication should be in either English or French. Documents, emails or other correspondence in other non-official languages will not be taken into account or processed. 

For any questions or further information, please contact:    evaluation@culture-routes.lu 

Reference texts

Prior to submitting an application for certification, applicants are advised to consult the following reference texts:  

Training opportunities

The European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR), Technical Agency of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme, regularly organises and delivers training seminars for representatives of cultural routes projects, certified Cultural Routes, governmental officials as well as national, regional and local stakeholders in the fields of tourism, culture and sustainable development. 

Since 2020, the EICR organises specific trainings in Luxembourg for representatives of cultural routes interested in applying for certification. The aim of these seminars is to provide candidate routes with an exhaustive overview of the certification procedure and requirements, in order to facilitate the preparation of their applications. 

Prior submission of an application for certification, candidate networks are advised to attend training sessions organised by the EPA Secretariat and the European Institute of Cultural Routes. Further information on training opportunities is available at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cultural-routes/training 

Technical advice

The European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR) is responsible for providing technical advice to certified Cultural Routes and candidate routes concerning organisational, technical and logistical aspects of the conception, development and management of Cultural Routes.  

Candidate routes are encouraged to keep regular contacts with both the European Institute of Cultural Routes and the Secretariat of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes in order to keep them informed on the latest developments of their networks. The EICR maintains an updated database and archive of networks interested in applying for certification, which facilitates providing specific advice upon request and accompanying the evolution of these routes until they submit an application.  

Candidate routes are also entitled to request the organization of advisory meetings both online and/or in Luxembourg with representatives of the Secretariat. These meetings are aimed at assessing the state of development of the projects, providing advice on aspects to be improved before submission of an application and evacuating any doubts concerning the certification cycle.  

For any requests for technical advice, please contact: evaluation@culture-routes.lu