On the occasion of the European Cultural Heritage Days, which this year were held under the theme Heritage of Routes, Networking and Connections, representatives of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe that cross Slovenia met in Villa Zlatica, joined by representatives of Slovenian thematic routes.
Villa Zlatica was not chosen for the gathering by chance, as it is – alongside the Forum of Slavic Cultures – the headquarters of the Women Writers Route, which became one of the 48 Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in 2022,. The nationwide gathering of cultural routes, which the FSK co-organised with the Faculty of Tourism of the University of Maribor, kicked off with the round table “Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe – Connecting for Peace and Intercultural Cooperation”.
In addition to the representative of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Irena Marš, representatives of two Council of Europe Cultural Routes coordinated from Slovenia took part in the round table: Lidija Pliberšek, MA, from the Cemeteries Route, which brings together cemeteries of European importance, and Dr. Andreja Rihter from the Women Writers’ Route, which raises awareness of the role of women authors in European literary history. The fourth participant was Dr Edvard Kovač, representative of the Great Cultural Route of St Martin, the first Slovenian route to be certified as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe.
Associate Professor Dr Maja Turnšek, moderator and representative of the Academic Network of Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, commented on the link between tourism, culture and peace: “Wars move borders across people, tourism moves people across borders. It has long been accepted as an indisputable truth that tourism, as an experience of other cultures, is an instrument for peace – the latter is the central idea of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe. But there is an important hidden assumption: tourism is a force for peace and respect for cultures when locals and tourists work together, and when locals do not see tourism as a competitor for their resources. Sustainable tourism management is thus a necessary condition for the continuation of tourism’s peace-building mission.”
