In 2021, the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe received a total extra-budgetary funding from the European Union of EUR 10.3 million to support of different project initiatives. In addition to their ordinary budgets, Cultural Routes secured additional funding, for the most part European Union funding, but also national, regional and local voluntary contributions, amounting to a total of EUR 10.5 Million funding received.

This year, 23 Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe were awarded grants for 42 Cultural Routes projects amounting to EUR 6.8 Million. 4 joint projects are also currently being implemented by 15 Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe with an overall funding of EUR 3.5 Million. Many Cultural Routes initiatives are supported by European Union funding programmes in the cultural, educational, and local development sectors such as Erasmus+, Creative Europe, and Horizon Europe.

Numerous funding opportunities with different project timelines and budget grants can be awarded to the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe to carry out their projects. ATRIUM, Via Francigena, In the Footsteps of Robert Stevenson, in particular, were awarded 4 project grants respectively in 2021. Some notable Cultural Routes secured substantial project grants such as Roman Emperors Danube Wine Route (TransDanube Travel Stories); Destination Napoleon (Napoctep); and Phoenicians’ Routes (TRAMES -Smart Tourism Across the Mediterranean Sea)

Some noteworthy examples of Cultural Projects include:

Rurallure is a joint project in the framework of the Horizon 2020 programme with the goal of promoting rural museums and heritage sites in the vicinity of major European pilgrimage routes - Saint James Ways, Via Francigena, Via Romea Germanica, Via Romea Strata, Saint Olav Ways, and the Way of Mary.

TransDanube Travel Stories is a project of Roman Emperors Danube Wine Route in the framework of Interreg Danube Transnational Programme with the aim of supporting sustainable tourism in the Danube region by implementing innovative promotion concepts, new narratives, and sustainable mobility management tools.

FAB Routes is an education and training joint project in the framework of Erasmus+ with a general objective of designing a new training methodology and educational module aimed at fostering and enriching the knowledge and transversal competences of the staff members and operators of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, to improve CRs management and promotion in the field of sustainable and cultural tourism.

The certification “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” is thus a guarantee of excellence, recognized across Europe by visitors, operators, and public authorities alike. Being a certified Cultural Route of the Council of Europe brings more visibility, both nationally and internationally, which provides opportunities to secure project funding, expand network members, and increase visitors throughout route.

The complete list of Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe funded projects in 2021 is available on the programme’s Activity Report 2021. Funding information concerning extra-budgetary resources received by Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe during 2022 will soon be available and published in the Activity Report 2022 to be available early next year.

The Secretariat published in 2019 a Vademecum on Funding for Cultural Routes which is available for download on the programme website. Cultural Route of the Council of Europe: documents (coe.int)