Via Francigena

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Network of European Pilgrimage routes

On 27th of July the European pilgrimage routes involved in Per Viam project participated at a study visit in Trondheim, the destination of the pilgrimage way of Saint Olav. The celebrations linked to Sain Olav’s day as well as the inauguration of the 50th edition of the Festival of Saint Olav let the participants make encounters and experience a very suggestive study visit.

This was also the opportunity for the pilgrimage routes involved to exchange about common issues, such as signposting, hospitality, ICT, transnational cultural events. The aim of this action is to create a permanent platform of exchange among the pilgrimage routes certified by the Council of Europe, with the assistance of the European Institute of Cultural Routes.

Pilgrimage routes platform

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Final meeting of the project Per Viam – Luxembourg

The project partners presented the project outcomes in Luxembourg, on February 21st 2013, hosted by the European Institute of Cultural Routes, in Neumünster Abbey. The partners also discussed about future cooperation. Project Per Viam put the base for a medium and long-term cooperation among all the partners on behalf of Via Francigena, European pilgiramge routes, cultural and slow Tourism in Europe.

You can find all the presentations of the conference at the following link:
http://www.culture-routes.lu/php/fo_index.php?lng=fr&dest=bd_ac_det&id=00003408

 

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EUROPE TO TURKEY ON FOOT

Turkey’s Culture Routes Society (CRS) is an NGO, which was established in 2012 in order to develop, maintain and promote culture routes and use them as a stimulus for rural development.

Culture Routes Society represents 18 natural and historical thematic routes and co-operates with official bodies in Turkey to encourage responsible tourism and to bring conservation and sustainability to the forefront of government policy. Among its members are route designers, travel agencies, service providers, as well as academics and botanists.

In December 2014, Culture Routes Society representatives met the European Association of Via Francigena (EAVF) authorities at the European Pilgrimage Routes Conference in Florence and agreed on a collaboration to apply to the Civil Society Dialogue Program with a mutual project that would allow them to take the first steps in combining and extending their networks.

The Europe to Turkey on Foot project, which started in Feb 2016, is financed by the EU and Turkish Republic and will last for a year. It aims to integrate the Turkish and European approaches in the management, communication and marketing of cross-border cultural routes as well as initiating the extension of Via Francigena towards the east by combining it with 3 existing Turkish routes. As part of the project, the European model of managing routes in collaboration with local administrations is studied and will be implemented by CRS and 3 project associate municipalities in Turkey: Inegöl on the Evliya Çelebi Way; Eğirdir on the St Paul Trail; Demre on the Lycian Way. In September 2016, a workshop was held in Thessaloniki to discuss the marketing strategy and develop an action plan in this regard together with local representatives including the Via Egnatia. The project continues with the support of Cultural Heritage Management students who will test-walk and evaluate the Turkish section and the result of this action will be exhibited by their photography and films in various places in Turkey. Finally, there will be 2 reports analyzing conservation systems in Europe and Turkey.

After the recent inclusion of Brindisi-Santa Maria di Leuca to the VF network, the route now can extend from Italy towards the east both by the sea and by the land and development of itineraries in rural areas is again the main target of this work. The cooperation between CRS and EAVF will continue further when this project ends and the new itinerary will eventually contribute to the intercultural dialogue by forming a bridge between Europe-Asia.

 Culture Routes Society

 

Please find here below the article issued on the magazine “Via Francigena and the European Cultural Routes”, n.42, November 2016

This information is produced with financial support of the European Union and the Republic of Turkey.  CULTURE ROUTES SOCİETY is responsible for the content of this document and can in no way be interpreted as the opinion of the European Union and/or Republic of Turkey.

Via Francigena 42_Turchia_mod.pdf

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Eurovelo 5 – Via Romea Francigena : in Canterbury the first meeting of the European project on the itinerary by bike

In the end of May the first partnership meeting of the European project Eurovelo 5 – Via Romea Francigena, took place in Canterbury gathering eleven partners from five different European countries and focused on the development of the Via Romea Francigena by bike.

 

The project is in line with the increasing number of bikers along the Via Francigena. The project EV5-Via Romea Francigena was selected by the Executive Agency for small and medium sized enterprises (EASME) and co-funded by the European Programme COSME, aiming at supporting the diversification of cultural tourist products in Europe.

THE EV5-VRF is coordinated by the University of Lancashire in partnership with organizations in charge of national cycle routes networks, municipalities, departments, European networks and specialized tourism enterprises. It started on 1st April and will last 18 months. The European Association of the Via Francigena will coordinate the Work Package 2, devoted to the product development. The EAVF will carry out its task in cooperation with the European Cyclist Federation – which will transfer the methodology related to the Eurovelo label certification standards –as well as all partners which will map the Via Francigena by bike in their respective territories and outline local action plans and a transnational action plan. Joint promotion and communication will be also developed.

The first partnership meeting held on 18 May,  set the methodology, the managing tools and the activity calendar. EAVF was represented by Velia Coffey, EAVF Vice President and Deputy Chief Executive of Canterbury City Council and Silvia Lecci, EAVF project manager.

The European cultural route of the Via Francigena will contribute at increasing cultural attractiveness of the concerned territories, while taking advantage of sustainable tourism practices, such as bike tourism which according to a European Parliament study generates every year about 40 billions of Euros, in the countries of the European Union.

Project partners: 

  • University of Central Lancashire (United Kingdom) Lead partner
  • Saddle Skedaddle (UK)
  • Verde Natura (Italy)
  • Regione Puglia (Italy)
  • European Cyclists´ Federation (Belgium)
  • Brussels Mobility, Brussels Region (Belgium)
  • Luxembourg Cycling Initiative (Luxembourg)
  • Conseil General du Bas-Rhin (France)
  • Federazione Italiana Amici della Bicicletta (Italy)
  • Associazione Europea delle Vie Francigene (Italy)
  • ItinerAria (Italy)

 

Associated partners:

  • SwitzerlandMobility Foundation (Switzerland)
  • Regione Puglia (Italy)
  • DIRECCTE Alsace (France)
  • Toerisme Vlaanderen (Belgium)
  • Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo (Italy)
  • Tourism South East (UK)
  • Visit England (UK)
  • Ministère de l’Economie (Luxembourg)
  • Agenzia Nazionale del Turismo –ENIT (Italy)
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The European Pilgrimage Routes as economic driver. The impact of the Francigena in Tuscany. IRPET Study

Cultural and landscape heritage as economic driver, economic impact assessment of public policies. The Via Francigena case study in Tuscany.

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