On 10 April, Bálint Molnár, Executive Director of the European Youth Centre (EYC) Budapest and Miklós Cseri PhD, Director General of the Hungarian Open-Air Museum signed an agreement to cooperate in the preparation of the professional programme of the 13th Annual Advisory Forum on the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, which will be held on 25-27 September 2024.

At the meeting were also present Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, Marcos Andrade, Deputy Executive Director of the EYC Budapest, Eszter Csonka-Takács PhD, official coordinator of the Cultural Routes Programme in Hungary and Krisztina Tompos, Cultural Routes Project Officer.

Since last year, the EYC is strongly involved in the preparation of the Annual Advisory Forum, as the work of the institution is closely related to the theme of the 13^th edition, entitled “Transmission and Innovation: Fostering the Youth Participation Along the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe”. By providing a platform for dialogue and exchange of concrete practices and methodologies, the Forum aims to enhance youth participation in cultural heritage and its involvement in safeguarding and transmitting European values. It will bring together representatives from EPA member States, certified “Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe” and candidate networks, International Organisations, research, and academic institutions as well as stakeholders from cultural, heritage and civil society sectors. According to the preliminary plan, a significant number of participants and speakers from the youth sector will be present during the 3-day programme.

Based in Budapest since 1995, the Budapest European Youth Centre, is the only youth institute outside Strasbourg. The Centre is active in many areas of the youth field, and its training programmes and professional tools contribute effectively to the Council of Europe's objectives of involving young people in building an inclusive, democratic, and solidarity-based Europe.

Hungary has been a member of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) since 2013, and now counts 14 Cultural Routes crossing the country.