Budget: 1.1 M €
Duration: 30 months (2017-2020)
Project Management: Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA) - Council of Europe, Luxembourg
Website: www.coe.int/routes4u

Routes4U enhances regional development through the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in the Adriatic-Ionian, the Alpine,  the Baltic Sea and the Danube Region. These EU macro-regional strategies encompass 27 countries with more than 340 million people.

The 30-month project was launched in the framework of the joint programme between the Council of Europe (Directorate General of Democracy) and the European Union (European Commission – DG REGIO).

The Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme underscores, as does the Faro Convention, the importance of local citizens and their affinity with their region to understand and identify the cultural heritage. Local involvement through the Cultural Routes networks attracts new activities and encourages sustainable tourism, while ensuring that the economic use does not threaten the heritage itself.

The project aims at very concrete tools to foster regional development through cultural heritage policies. Among the highlighted activities, the support for the certification of new Cultural Routes in the EU macro-regions, the identification and drafting of guidelines for transnational regional policies on Cultural Routes for local authorities and operators, the development of new competencies and skills through e-learning modules and development of tourism tools and products such as a Cultural Routes card and a trip planner.

Routes4U objectives are:

Regional development: Strengthening sustainable social, cultural and economic development in the 4 EU macro-regions through the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe.

Cultural cooperation: Promote the cultural cooperation between (local, national, and international stakeholders of the 4 EU macro-regions.

Social cohesion: Contribute to the participation of the civil society, ensuring the potential of cultural heritage as a resource for sustainable development.

Routes4U is implemented by:

• by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (Luxembourg)
• through the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe networks
• in coordination with the stakeholders of the EU macro-regional strategies and the European Commission
• according to the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro Convention, 2005)

More information: Routes4U Website