ENPP WILL PARTICIPATE IN GENEVA FORUM 2019

ENPP will be represented at the 11TH GENEVA FORUM which will be held in Geneva from 9 to 13 December 2019 at the United Nations Headquarters in that Swiss city and will be attended by numerous governmental and non-governmental organizations from around the world.
GENEVA FORUM is organized by OSI NGO
(Objectif Sciences International) a science education focused NGO, which has special consultative status of the UN (ECOSOC) and which has been a leader in the field of citizen science (since 1992) and is the organization that created the first participatory research camps (2004).
The presentation of the ENPP will be made during the Conference “Travel and Sustainable Tourism for Peace and Development” which will be held on December 9th, Monday and results from the approval by the Forum oeganization of the abstract  submitted by ENPP and which can be found in the “Validated Presentations” section at http://www.osi-genevaforum.org/Sustainable-Travel-Tourism-Peace-Development.
The full text of this abstract, prepared by Áurea Rodrigues, President of the Scientific Council of Places of Peace Route, with the collaboration of Apolónia Rodrigues, Coordinator of Places of Peace Route and Eduardo Basso, President of ENPP, is as follows:

“Culture has become a key product in the international tourism market, with tourists engaged in cultural accounting for 40% of international arrivals in 2016 (UNWTO, 2016). Culture is becoming a central factor of attraction in tourism. Heritage and cultural tourism can The environment, social place, cultural systems and tourism development are inextricably linked in a relationship when local values ​​are respected and when they are also transmitted to the tourist The European Places of Peace route represents one of the most genuine European values ​​the Route through the experience and the memory of the places of Europe where Peace was a fact, the places where Peace Treaties were signed The Route also emphasizes its contribution to strengthening mutual knowledge and exchange of experiences among the European peoples , its action in scientific historical research on the Treaties of Peace in Europe, the dissemination of a culture of peace in an educational perspective together with the younger generation as well as the decisive contribution it has made to the recovery and enhancement of the European Material Heritage. The Places of Peace Route includes 11 places from 8 countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia, Spain, Hungary, Portugal and Romania). ”
ENPP looks forward to taking advantage of this excellent opportunity to spread its objectives and activities around the world.

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Application for Places of Peace Route analyzed in a German newspaper

Under the title “No culture trail but no giving up either – Network with Hubertusburg Castle wants to continue peace work” the German Newspaper “Oschatzer Allgemeine Zeitung” recently published an article by Ms.Jana Brechlin, in which she analyzed the candidacy of the Places of Peace Route for the Cultural Route of the Council of Europe and reflects the views of several members of the Hubertusburg Castle Friendship Association and the Mayor of Wermsdorf ( Germany), Mr.  Matthias Müller, on this whole process.

Here is the full text of that article:

 

“After a year and a half of effort and hope, it’s now clear that Places of Peace Route will not be certified as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. At least not yet.

Representatives from a total of eleven European places where peace treaties were signed jointly launched the application. The Hubertusburg Castle Friendship Association had also taken part in this, after all the Hubertusburg Peace was ratified here in 1763 – a final point under the Seven Years’ War. The Places of Peace Network wanted to connect such places in a total of eight countries on a cultural route.

In February an expert was therefore in Wermsdorf to examine the applications of Hubertusburg, Altranstädt and Bautzen – the three German members. “Maria Gravari-Barbas made it clear, however, that “I don’t decide on this, but pass on my report to the representatives of the Commission, which will then make proposals on certification to the Council of Europe”.

The European Network of Places of Peace (ENPP) was one of eight candidates to make it to the final round of certification. There, however, it came to an end that there was no recognition as a European Cultural Route. But there was no trace of hangover: “Even though we were not designated as a European Cultural Route this year, the Executive Board and the members see in this overall process a great recognition of the many years of successful work of our organisation” it says of the network.

The candidacy process had had a lot of good things. Thus, a separate website was created, on which the route and the individual locations are presented. In addition, the public perception of the places of peace had increased significantly.

Wermsdorf’s mayor Matthias Müller (CDU) also underlines this. “Hubertusburg and the other places of peace have become more conscious again – and that alone is important,” he said. Nevertheless, it was a pity that certification had not been achieved. “I find that regrettable, because a lot of work was put into the application.”

The network itself relies on these efforts having a far-reaching effect. In this way, both the network and those involved in the peace route would continue to work. In addition, the scientific advisory board of  Places of Peace Route, in which experts on history and cultural tourism from all participating countries are involved, has been set up in recent months. “Our candidacy has even helped to further develop the Council of Europe’s procedure for evaluating cultural itineraries” the association is proud of.

Ideas on how to network even better in the future have also already been presented in Wermsdorf. As an example, Ulf Müller cited the possibility of offering events specifically for young people. Wolfgang Köhler, chairman of Hubertusburg Castle Friendship Association, assured the audience that they had already many years of local experience in this regard and referred to the biennial competitions for the Youth Peace Prize: “We notice again and again that the topic is very close to the hearts of young people and it is exciting to see how young people look at peace” he had made clear at the presentation.

During the whole time of the application for cultural route, there had been active cooperation in the Places of Peace network and broad support. Ulf Müller of the network’s board of directors emphasized that we want to thank everyone for this. “Many developments here in Hubertusburg give us the courage to be optimistic and to continue” he looked ahead. One would not stop with the work begun, only because it did not work now with the certification to the culture route. So the recognition could be examined in the future possibly also by other European certificates.
Wermsdorf’s Mayor would like to use the support of a Brussels party colleague to do this. “I would suggest to get our MEP Peter Jahr on board as well” says Matthias Müller. He could certainly help to remedy any weaknesses in the application and thus increase the chances that the joint route with Hubertusburg Castle and other European places of peace will still be recognised as a cultural route after all. For Müller is convinced that nothing has changed in the significance of this: “Peace is more important for us today than ever. That is why it is necessary to make use of every opportunity to focus on the topic.“

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About the Certification of Places of Peace Route

In September 2017, the European Network Places of Peace (ENPP) presented the candidacy of  Places of Peace Route as a cultural route of the Council of Europe, which was transferred to the evaluation cycle 2018/2019. This candidacy was based on the fact that its general theme – peace – and its specific theme – the places in Europe where peace treaties were signed – are of genuine European value.

The Places of Peace Route candidature integrated 11 sites in 8 European countries: Portugal, Spain, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania.

The ENPP was one of eight candidates to reach the final round of certification at the Council of Europe. Even though we have not been designated as a European Cultural Route this year, the Board and the members see this overall process as a great recognition of the many years of successful work of our organisation.

The whole process involved in this candidacy also had many positive aspects for our network and our route. In particular, it enabled the discussion on the almost forgotten European Peace Treaties to be taken to the level of the European institutions and the specific contents of the Route to be deepened internally. The public perception of our route and its visibility at European and global level has been significantly increased and a new website has been created dedicated to the route and its locations with versions in English, German and Portuguese. In addition, Places of Peace Route Scientific Council has been set up, integrating renowned scientists from the fields of history and cultural tourism from all the countries on the route. Our candidacy has even helped to develop the Council of Europe’s procedure for evaluating cultural itineraries.

ENPP and Places of Peace Route will continue to work consistently. We have not started with the certification by the Council of Europe and will not end because we have not yet received this certification this year. We will continue to work towards our goals at every location and at European level, possibly including obtaining other existing European certifications.

The preparation and development of this candidacy wasn’t only the work of the ENPP management and the Peace Route coordinator, but had actively involved all ENPP members in the eight European member countries, as well as many other external persons and institutions who supported this initiative.

We would like to thank all those who have supported this process in the certainty that they will continue to support the future activities and initiatives of our network.                                                                      May 2019

The Board of European Network of Places of Peace

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„The wedding of the century“ and „ The Lost Saxon Rococo“: two great exhibitions in Hubertusburg Palace (Germany)

Outstanding rococo works of art and a roaring wedding of the century – two special exhibitions at Hubertusburg Palace, one of the largest hunting lodges in Europe, invite you on a journey through the time: when Prince Friedrich August, the son of August the Strong, married the emperor’s daughter Maria Josepha in Dresden in September 1719, the European public witnessed a glittering festival with operas, processions, masquerades and everything the late baroque festival culture had to offer.

Exhibition venue: Hubertusburg Palace, Wermsdorf

Duration:  28-04-2019  to 06-10-2019

Opening hours: daily 10 am to 6 pm (Monday closed)

In the first part of the exhibition, the State Art Collections of Dresden invite you to rediscover the prince’s court and “The Lost Saxon Rococo”. The exhibition rooms in the former Beletage of the Palace, with well over 100 top-class works of art and treasures of the Saxon rococo, transport the viewer into the middle of the courtly everyday life of the couple, whose passion for music, art and culture had a decisive influence on the style of their time.

 

“It was the wedding of the century!” – In the second part of the exhibition, „Saxony – Country of Castles“ fills the now unadorned rooms with life again in areas of the castle accessible for the first time. With the help of video installations and a rotatable 360° video screen, parts of the building shine in their old splendour facing the eyes of the visitors and show them in the way they once thought up and furnished Maria Josepha and Friedrich August II. Finally, the journey through time, culminates in a rousing 360° video installation, in which the guests are invited to join in the celebration of the pompous festival, the “wedding of the century”.

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A FEELING OF PEACE

Miguel Claro (facebook.com/miguelclaro.photography) is one of the most prestigious astrophotographers in the world and collaborator of the most prestigious magazines and worldwide websites of the specialty. Last year, 10 of his photographs were included in the list of the 100 best photos of the year published by the website space.com, the NASA site FOR space exploration and astronomy news.

Miguel Claro is also the official astrophotographer of Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, Portugal (darkskyalqueva.com), the first reserve to obtain the worldwide certification awarded by UNESCO, STARLIGHT FOUNDATION AND WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION.
ENPP invited Miguel Claro to carry out a photographic work in one of the Portuguese sites of  Places of Peace Route which could highlight its architectural and natural heritage and could reflect the spirit of Peace related to the signing of a Peace Treaty there, which constitutes the essence and content of the Route.
Miguel Claro took advantage of the Super Moon of the last Equinox of Spring and the result is the photograph we publish here  obtained in the Castle of Evoramonte (Portugal), a perfect communion between the work of the Man and the beauty of Nature, which breathes a true “Feeling of Peace”.

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Exhibition of Nelson Mandela Art in Evoramonte, Portugal

Evoramonte (Portugal), headquarters of ENPP, receives until June 2 an exhibition of 36 drawings signed by Nelson Mandela, leader of the movement against Apartheid, President of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
The exhibition of the 36 drawings of Mandela is distributed by 5 venues located in Evoramonte Castle : Torre/Paço, Café-Restaurant “The Place”, “Andar a Monte”, Handicraft Shop “Celeiro Comum” and Art Gallery “Silveirinha “.

The official inauguration of the Exhibition will take place on April 9 and will be attended by the Ambassador of South Africa in Portugal, Mmamokwena Gaoretelelwe.

The exhibition can be visited from 11.00 to 18.00 hours, every day (some venues closed on Monday).

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Places of Peace Route evaluator visited Wermsdorf (Germany)

As part of the certification process of the Places of Peace Route as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe, the evaluator appointed by the European Institute of Cultural Routes, Ms Maria Gravari-Barbas visited last 8th February the town of Wermsdorf (Saxony, Germany) where the Castle of Hubertusburg is located in order to take contact with the work developed in this member of the Route.
Ms Gravari-Barbas was received by the Mayor of Wermsdorf, Matthias Müller, the President of ENPP, Eduardo Basso and Ulf Müller, member of Hubertusburg Castle Friendship Association and Vice-President of ENPP.
At the Welcome Session performed on Wermsdorf Municipal Hall, it was also a matter of being present and expressing their involvement and support to the Route, numerous local, regional and state public and private entities, namely Mr. Matthias Haß, Minister of Finance of the State of Saxony, Frank Kupfer and Ms. Bärbel Schumann,  members of the State Parliament of Saxony,  Mr. Jens Spiske,  Mayor of Markranstädt, Ms. Ursula Fritzsche and Dr. Ulrich Hofmann, councilors in the Municipality of Wermsdorf, Mr. Kristian Kirpal,  President of the Chamber of Commerce and Crafts of Leipzig , Mr. Wolfgang Köhler, Dr. Sybille Hofmann and Ms. Martina-Elvira Lotzmann, members of Hubertusburg Castle Friendship Association, Ms. Kathleen Schramm, Project Director of Leipzig Tourism & Marketing GmbH, Mr. Wolfgang Trommer, Prof. Klaus Wendler, Dr. Georg Müller, Mr. Hans Weinfurtner and Ms. Monika Buchwalder, members of Hubertusburg Castle Friendship Association for Local Work of the Route, Mr. Paul Fischer, from Steinhaus Association (Bautzen, Saxony) the latest member of the Route, Hellmuth Matthes and Friedericke Maasch, from the Association for the Promotion of Altranstädt Castle (Saxony), member of the Route, Ms. Daniela Hollburg and Ms. Petra Förster, of the State Enterprise of Saxony for Real Estate and Construction and Mr. Gundolf Schmidt, representing the Association “Homeland Wermsdorf “.

After this session  Ulf Müller, Hellmuth Matthes and Paul Fisher made their presentation about the 3 places of the Route in Saxony (Hubertusburg, Altranstädt and Bautzen) as well as the Mayor of Markranstädt, followed by a period of questions and requests for clarification from Markranstädt, followed by a question period and requests for clarification from the evaluator, Mrs Maria Gravari-Barbas.

The evaluator then had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of Hubertusburg Castle Friendship Association and the exhibition on it about the treaty of Hubertusburg, the “Window of Peace,” a memorial of the Treaty of 1763 which ended with the Seven Years’ War, the Palace of Hubertusburg where she made contact with the results of two important events organized by the association – Hubertusburg Talks and the Young Peace Prize.
The visit ended with a meeting between the evaluator and the members of ENPP Board to clarify the documentation integrating the application dossier of Places of Peace Route for Cultural Route of the Council of Europe.

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UNWTO Congress highlights the role of Cultural Routes in Competitive Tourism

The 2nd International Congress on World Civilizations and Historical Routes held on 16 and 17 September in the city of Sofia explored how tourism along historic routes can help to safeguard and promote tangible and intangible cultural heritage and concludes that historic routes can play a major role in revealing the unique history, culture and natural assets of territories along them, becoming a powerful promotional tool and a unique instrument to increase tourism competitiveness for many destinations.
Discussions centred on identifying best practices in tourism development, management and promotion that can help to harness the tourism potential of historic routes, enhance the value of their cultural heritage, and preserve their authenticity and successful examples were exchanged of well-developed and managed historic routes, with a focus on ways to maximize tourism’s socio-economic impacts for local communities and contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Congress also concludes thati n recent years cultural tourism has emerged as a major driver of demand, in line with travellers’ growing interest to immerse themselves in tourism ‘experiences’ such as local rituals and traditions.
The 2nd International Congress on World Civilizations and Historical Routes was organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria. ENPP was represented in the Congress by Ms. Mariana Assenova, former Minister of Tourism of Bulgaria and member of the Scientific Council of Places of Peace Route and by Ms. Bonka Yordanova, project expert on the Municipality of Kaynardzha, a Bulgarian member of ENPP.

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PLACES OF PEACE ROUTE WAS PRESENT AT THE 8th ADVISORY FORUM ON CULTURAL ROUTES

On 26th and 27th of September an ENPP delegation was present at the 8th  Advisory Forum on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in the city of Görlitz (Germany), at the invitation of the European Institute of Cultural Routes, the Government of the Free State of Saxony and the Municipality of Görlitz.

The ENPP delegation was composed of its President, Eduardo Basso, the Vice-President, Ulf Müller, the Chairman of the AGM, Hellmuth Matthes and the Director of the Association  STEINHAUS, e.V. from Bautzen, Torsten Wiegel.

The Görlitz Forum focused on establishing synergies between the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe and UNESCO and other international institutions classified sites.

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PEACE TOUR – ALCÁÇOVAS/ EVORAMONTE (Portugal) on September 22

The Peace Tour – Alcáçovas/Évora Monte (Portugal), an initiative of the European Network of Places of Peace and the Municipality of Viana do Alentejo operated by the tour operator RSI-Viagens, Estremoz, will return on Saturday, September 22.

The main purpose of the Peace Tour is to make known the places where the two Peace Treaties – the Treaty of Alcáçovas and the Convention of Evoramonte – were signed, which deeply marked the history of Portugal in the late 15th and early 19thcentury, respectively.

This is a one-day tour, to be held on Saturdays with planned departures from Lisbon (Gare do Oriente) and Évora (Portas do Raimundo/GALP), with the morning part dedicated to the village of Alcáçovas and the afternoon to be passed in the Castle of Evoramonte.

In Alcáçovas the participants will have the opportunity to visit the Paço dos Henriques, the recently recovered place where the Treaty was signed, the Garden of Shells annexed to the Palace and to attend a Historical Representation about the circumstances and the main consequences of the Treaty signed between King D Alfonso V and Prince D. João (future D. João II) by Portugal side and the Catholic Kings, D. Fernando and D. Isabel by Castile. There will be a visit to the factory Pardalinho Rattles, where visitors will be able to watch the Rattle Production, classified in 2015 as Intangible Heritage of Humanity, by UNESCO. Before lunch in a local restaurant with traditional Alentejo menu, visitors will still have the opportunity to get to know one of the most important economic activities of the village – the “Conventual Confectionery of Alcáçovas”.

After lunch, the tour will take the participants to Evoramonte Castle. Here, Tour participants will visit some of the most important examples of the Castle’s rich religious, civil and military patrimony: the Torre/Paço de Evoramonte, a national monument since 1911, unique in its style throughout the Iberian Peninsula, a work attributed to the Arrudas Architects by order of D. Teodósio and D. Jaime, the first Dukes of the House of Bragança; the Church of Santa Maria, currently dedicated to Nª. Sra. da Conceição, dating from the 12th century and the Chapel of Mercy built in the first half of the sixteenth century and in which highlights the central nave completely tiled with tiles from the mid-eighteenth century. In Evoramonte, participants will also attend a Historical Representation on the circumstances that led to the signing of the Convention of Evoramonte, between the liberals led by D. Pedro and the absolutists commanded by his brother D. Miguel and who put an end to the only civil war Portugal knew in its almost 900 years of history.

The Tour will end in the best way: a Thematic Dinner based on recipes collected by the well-known Portuguese Historian and Gastronomic Dr. Alfredo Saramago. Empadão de Pigeons Braves and Pork Loin with Honey and Rosemary will be the main dishes of a dinner served in environment of the time of the Convention.

Reservations can be made at the headquarters of RSI-Viagens in Estremoz or in the branch office in Évora (Edifício Santa Catarina, 12 – store 6), through the website www.rs-viagens.com, emails info.estremoz@rs-viagens. pt and info.evora@rs-viagens.pt or by phone +351 268 333 228 and +351 266 747 871.

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