Organised by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the National Maritime Museum in Gdansk, the Baltic Sea State Forum “Cultural Heritage in Promotion and Development of the Baltic Sea Region” took place from 28 to 30 of November in Gdansk, Poland. The meeting identified examples of sustainable use of heritage leading to socio-economic development of the region and explored the development of transborder projects in the domain of protection and promotion of cultural heritage, including examples of innovative transnational Cultural Routes. Various countries of the Baltic Sea Region were represented, such as Finland, Sweden, Poland, Latvia, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.

Stefano Dominioni, Executive Secretary of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes, presented the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe as well as the joint programme with the European Commission Routes4U, which fosters regional development of the EU macro-region through the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme. The Baltic Sea Region is currently crossed by 16 certified Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, covering a wide field of themes related to their tangible and intangible heritage. Among the Cultural Routes certified by the Council of Europe with a strong link with the Baltic Sea Region, two best practices were presented: the Hansa and its tourism project “Explore Hansa”, and the Viking Routes with its roadshow “Follow the Vikings”.