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
