On the third day in Izmir, the participants of the AEPJ Routes Incubator 2022 took part in a dynamic led by Yoel Mansfeld, member of the scientific committee of the AEPJ, which, following the Nominal Group Technique, made it possible to evaluate and define a roadmap for the further development and growth of the common project of the routes. In the afternoon, the group visited the archaeological site of the Roman Agora in Izmir, where the remains of the house of the Kabbalistic Rabbi Shabtai Tzvi are also located.

The programme of the AEPJ Routes Incubator has offered a multidisciplinary perspective, combining keynote sessions, workshops, study visits, plenary sessions and networking sessions.

The project of the European Routes of Jewish Heritage faces new challenges and needs.

The AEPJ Routes Incubator 2022 started yesterday in the city of Izmir, Turkey, where the route managers of the European Routes of Jewish Culture, together with the scientific committee of the AEPJ, the staff and some invited experts, met to continue developing, improving and making this European heritage and culture project grow.

The second day of the Incubator focused on participatory workshop work: after an exploration session of the routes led by Marc Francesch Camps, project manager of the routes, participants were able to share visions and take advantage of the resources offered by the National Library of Israel, represented by Caron Sethill, and the Jewish Heritage Network and the J-Story project, represented by Pavel Kats.

The AEPJ Routes Incubator 2022 kicked off this morning in Izmir, Turkiye. This programme is not only the annual meeting point for the route managers of the member institutions of the European Routes of Jewish Heritage, but also a unique opportunity to explore, reflect, connect and learn together about the key aspects of developing Jewish heritage projects. The Incubator had not been able to be held in person for three years and was only done online, so this edition has a very special meaning for the participants and for the whole network.

The programme has been designed by the scientific committee and the AEPJ team, together with the Izmir Jewish Heritage Project, which acts as host. During three days, field visits, networking sessions, workshops and plenary meetings will take place, where the different routes that make up the European Routes of Jewish Heritage will seek to take this project to the next level.

NOA Pluralism Seminars are going to conclude next Saturday 12^th November in Cordoba, Spain, with the last one of the four programmed sessions, on a conference that aims to analyse how “Jewish identity can be an inspiring element” in the defence of a “plural and inclusive” society and in the fight against “racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism”.

A dozen experts, community leaders and cultural managers will meet to discuss on the role that Jewish culture has played in the construction of contemporary plural society. Under the heading of ‘Judaism and pluralism. Past, present and future‘, eight specialists from Spain, Portugal and Israel will examine various aspects related to Jewish culture, such as medieval Hispano-Hebrew literature or the Jewish convert phenomenon.

Today we concluded the two-day seminar “Czech Jews – History and Culture, Coexistence of the Minority with the Majority Society, Legacy for Today” with a tour of the Spanish and Old Synagogue. At the beginning of the seminar, FJO Chairman Petr Papoušek welcomed the participants with the words … “monuments are an important element in education and conveying information about the Jewish community, history, culture, a call for respect and tolerance.” The seminar was intended for tour guides, monument managers and all those who care for or are interested in Jewish monuments, and we would like to thank them for their cooperation.

The seminar was organized by the Federation of Jewish Communities of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Jewish Museum in Prague and thanks to the initiative and financial support of the European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture within the NOA project.

The AEPJ has been present during the II Meeting of Ibero-American Cultural Cooperation: Sustainability, Cohesion and Social Inclusion through Cultural Routes and Itineraries. The collaboration developed through cultural routes and itineraries is currently one of the areas of greatest potential, vigour and promotion at regional and international level, gathering a large part of the aspirations and interests of the territories in cultural, social and economic terms. They serve as operational and dynamic strategies to enhance the place of heritage as an engine for development in the field of cultural tourism, employment generation and transformation in isolated or depressed areas, forming open laboratories for action and collaboration, assuming the important dimension of cultural heritage and the development of territories in terms of sustainability.

In its second yearly edition, the objective of Moldova Tourism Forum is to bring in a strategic and agile approach to support the creation of a strong and resilient tourism industry in Moldova, based on sustainability, innovation, digitalization, creativity, and adaptability to new realities.

Since the European Routes of the Council of Europe are developing an important role for the cultural tourism improvement, AEPJ was one of the invited institutions to join the round table on Cultural Routes as a Driver of the Tourism Industry, altogether with Iter Vitis – Les Chemins de la vigne en Europe, the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes, the European Route of Ceramics, the National Committee of ICOM-Moldova, The Route of Stephan the Great and Saint, and the Georgian National Tourism Administration. 

The President of the AEPJ – European Association for the Enhancement and Preservation of Jewish Heritage – François Moyse together with Claudia de Benedetti, Assumpció Hosta and Annie Sacerdoti, representatives of the organisation’s Board of Directors, significantly placed a plaque in front of one of the oldest mikveh, ritual baths, in Sicily in Syracuse this morning, 20 October.

“Today, the AEPJ is proud to unveil a plaque in a very special place”, said Francois Moyse, “and our thanks go to Amalia Danielle di Bagni for preserving and looking after this treasure. This mikveh is testimony to the historical presence of Jews on the island of Ortigia. Syracuse was one of the first cities in eastern Sicily to welcome Jews. But, sadly, it was also the city that expelled them in late 1492 because of the Spanish Inquisition.”