On 6 June 2018, Ingrid Zimmerman, Senior Counselor at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism, presented the Routes4U project at our 2nd Transnational Project Conference in Linz during the Cultural Routes session. One of the objectives of our CultPlatForm_21 project is to develop cultural routes and support networks certified “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” in the Danube Region.

The central topic of the Linz conference was world heritage, with emphasis on UNESCO World Heritage and the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. Through panels, discussions and workshops, the issues of audience development and facilitation of history for the audience of the 21st century was discussed on and deliberated on. The conference presented a number of cultural and tourism best practices from the whole world and particularly from the Danube region.

Routes4U is a joint programme between the Council of Europe and the European Union. The 30-months project (2017-20) aims to foster regional development through the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme in the four EU macro-regions, according to the Faro Convention.

Routes4U implements activities for the four EU macro-regions related to cultural heritage and sustainable tourism in view of regional development. Among the highlighted activities: Research and guidelines on sustainable cultural tourism, a digital platform to discover Cultural Routes landmark sites and less-known destinations in the EU macro-regions and the assistance of new cultural routes projects in view to the certification “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe”.

Routes4U Examples of specific objectives

• Foster sustainable growth for creative industries and tourism sector in the EU macro-regions
• Strengthen the cultural tourism sector and develop cultural routes projects in the EU macro-regions
• Improve the visibility of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in the EU macro-regions
• Encourage regional investment along the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe

Our CultPlatForm_21 project plans a cooperation of culture and tourism with the aim of developing contemporary aspects of cultural routes. It is planned to discover places of history and to support existing cultural routes in cooperation with the Council of Europe. The intention of the project is to expand cultural routes, to explore aspects of hidden sites and to give stories to visible and invisible cultural heritage. We are therefore delighted to intensify our cooperation with the Routes4U project.

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