The XII Annual Forum of Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, which is being held in Lodz, Poland, started yesterday under the theme: “Cultural Routes: Social and Creative Dimension of Cultural Heritage in a Post-Industrial Context.”
The 2023 Advisory Forum is organised by the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) and the European Institute of Cultural Routes, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland. Participants from 40 EPA member states and representatives from 47 certified Cultural Routes are exploring “the role of cultural heritage in the construction of a peaceful and democratic society” within post-industrial societies and linking it with contemporary challenges to heritage posed by conflicts, natural disasters, and climate change.
As part of the programme, the coordination meeting of the Council of Europe’s Cultural Routes Task Force with the Certified Routes was held, where the results of the Working Groups on Sustainability, Visibility and Cooperation were presented, and future strategies were discussed, including the setting up of a working group aimed at promoting Cultural Tourism. In this framework, Victor Sorenssen, director of the AEPJ, coordinates the group dedicated to the cooperation between Cultural Routes and was in charge of presenting the work of the cooperation group.
In the afternoon, the Forum was opened by the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Bjørn Berge, by the Minister of Development and Technology of Poland, Waldemar Buda, and by the Deputy Mayor of the city of Łódź, Małgorzata Moskwa-Wodnicka.
Likewise, the official presentation of the renewal of the certification to the routes that have been approved by the triennial evaluation carried out by the European Institute of Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe took place, among them, the European Route of Jewish Heritage, represented by François Moyse, president of the AEPJ. Today, Mr. Moyse himself will be one of the keynote speakers on the panel dedicated to the preservation and revitalisation of post-industrial heritage.
The Jewish heritage delegation, in addition to Victor Sorenssen and François Moyse, includes Emil Majuk, director of Grodzka Gate, our partners in Lublin, Poland.
As always, it is a pleasure to participate in this high-level Forum, which represents a unique opportunity to strengthen our work in the Jewish heritage network in Europe.