14–16 April 2025 | Nova Gorica – Gorizia
The Forum of Slavic Cultures, in cooperation with the Lojze Bratuž Cultural Centre in Gorizia, within the framework of the Ljubka’s Trail project, invites you to the International Conference on the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, which will take place in Nova Gorica and Gorizia from 14 to 16 April 2025. The conference, entitled “Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe: Identification and Preservation of Cultural Heritage in Border Areas,” will focus on the importance of cultural routes as a tool for cross-border cooperation, preservation of common heritage, and sustainable cultural-tourist development.
The event will open on Tuesday, 15 April at 9 a.m. in the Great Hall of the Municipality of Nova Gorica. The Mayor of Nova Gorica, Samo Turel, the Mayor of Gorizia, Rodolfo Ziberna, and Meltem Onhon from Turkey, Chair of the Management Board of the Partial Extended Agreement on the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, will address the audience. The day before, Mija Lorbek, Director of the European Capital of Culture GO! 2025, will present the key highlights of the project at the kick-off meeting.
The conference will bring together experts from eight countries, representatives of cultural routes, researchers, local community representatives, creators, and stakeholders in the fields of culture, tourism, and sustainable development. The discussions will take place in four panels focusing on intercultural integration, the role of cultural routes in local development, sustainable tourism, and the search for synergies between the European Capital of Culture programme and the Council of Europe’s Cultural Routes.
Participants will also have the opportunity to learn about a new cross-border literary route – the Ljubka’s Trail, dedicated to poetry and equality, which highlights the creative contribution of women in the multicultural space of both Gorizia and Tolmin. The trail, which is being developed in cooperation with the Women Writers’ Route, is also included in the official programme of the ECOC GO! 2025. Speakers will include renowned experts in the fields of cultural policies, tourism, research, and cultural heritage.
The working language of the conference will be English, see the programme and meet the speakers.
We invite you to join us for this important international meeting, which offers a space for expert discussion, exchange of good practices, and co-creation of the future of cultural routes in the cross-border area.
The Ljubka’s Trail project is co-financed by the Interreg VI-A Italy–Slovenia Small Project Fund 2021–2027 (GO! 2025), managed by the EGTC GO.