European Institute of Cultural Routes

The European Institute of Cultural Routes is a non-profit association based in Luxembourg whose aim is to help the Council of Europe , as a technical body, in the establishment of European Cultural Routes .

It was established in 1998 and its role is: ^[1]

• to examine applications for new projects;
• to monitor activities in the field and co-ordinate the work of partner organizations;
• to disseminate and archive information documents.

The Council of Europe:

Central and Eastern Europe, to be established in the region of Central and Eastern Europe constitute the memory of the program of the cultural routes. ^[2]

The European Institute of Cultural Routes

The European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR) was established as a European public service and technical body as part of a political agreement between the Council of Europe and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Ministry of Culture, Further Education and Research). Since 1988 the Institute has worked in collaboration with the Council of Europe in carrying out its responsibilities, namely to ensure the continuity and development of the program of the Cultural Routes in the 51 signatory countries of the European Cultural Convention and, depending on the geographical and historical requirements of the subject, in which countries have had close relations with Europe.

The EICR resides in the Cultural Meeting Center – Neumünster Abbey , in Luxembourg. It retains all relevant documentation and maintains a specialist library on the roads. The Institute regularly welcomes those in charge of the networks of road and project managers, researchers, students and members of the general public. The EICR is also involved in European training, research and analysis programs for cultural tourism, for the European Commission and various governments and project managers. The Institute organizes themed symposiums and specialist training, collaborates in the setting up and running of the Roads, and participates in specialist exhibitions while promoting greater awareness of the links between culture, tourism and the environment.

From 2004 to 2006 the Institute for the Management of the Impact of the European Research Program PICTURE (Proactive management of the impact of cultural tourism on urban resources and economies).

In 2008 the European Commission (Directorate-General Education and Culture) named the EICR as a body active on a European level in the field of culture, in recognition for its essential role in creating a coherent program of sustainable cultural tourism initiatives Europe „and encouraging Europeans to discover their common roots and history and the exploration of material and immaterial heritage.

The Institute is a member of NECSTOUR, an association of European regions working on sustainable development and sustainable tourism, and has signed an agreement with the City of Culture and Sustainable Tourism to provide distance-learning and to study the sustainability of tourism the cultural roads. The Institute is currently working with the Council of Europe and the Tourism Unit of the European Commission on the impact of small businesses.

In 2011, the Institute welcomes a Partial Agreement to encourage the voluntary contributions of those countries of the Council of Europe which wishes to increase the funds available to the cultural routes.

Since the opening up of Europe to the East, the Cultural Routes have enabled, and continues to enable (particularly by expanding to include the Southern Caucasus), the creation of a dialogue between Eastern and Western Europeans. The opening of a resource center for Cultural Routes in Sibiu, in the Casa Luxembourg, in liaison with the European Institute of Cultural Routes in Luxembourg and the Mioritics Association is testament to this.

Stefano DOMINIONI is the current Director of the Institute and Executive Secretary of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe. Michel Tomas Penette and Penelope Denu directed the Institute from 1998 to 2011 and from 2011 to 2015 respectively.

Colette FLESCH is President of the Institute since 2013. She is replaced by Erna Hennicot-Schoepges and Guy Dockendorf.

See also

• European Cultural Route
• Cultural policies of the European Union

References