On 17 and 18 February of 2022, representatives of central institutions from Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) came together in the virtual II. EU-LAC Dialogue Sessions on “Cooperation and Policies in the realm of Cultural Heritage, Cultural Routes, and their relevance for the Bi-regional Partnership between the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean”, co-organised by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture of Peru and the EU-LAC Foundation. The Dialogue Sessions aimed to advance the bi-regional dialogue on intangible cultural heritage and, more specifically, on cultural routes as an instrument to make visible the importance of European Union (EU)-LAC relations, particularly in the field of cultural heritage. The Dialogue Sessions focused on the challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and digitisation. To this end, the participants of the sessions discussed policies and cooperation programmes in the aforementioned areas managed by international organisations and national institutions and exchanged experiences about the management of cultural routes among the managing entities.
The concept of Cultural Routes has gained increasing recognition over the last decades, in the fields of culture, heritage, and tourism. In 1993, following the inclusion of the Camino de Santiago in the UNESCO World Heritage list, the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) acknowledged the need to define the newly emerging category of Cultural Itinerary, which until then had not been contemplated in the Operational Guidelines of the 1972 World Heritage Convention. In 2008, the Charter on Cultural Routes was ratified by the General Assembly of ICOMOS and defines Cultural Routes as “Any route of communication, be it land, water, or some other type, which is physically delimited and is also characterized by having its own specific dynamic and historical functionality to serve a specific and well-determined purpose.” Today, the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe consist of 45 cultural Itineraries, involving more than 60 countries, in Europe and beyond. Equally, in Latin America and the Caribbean, cultural routes such as the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Mexico), the Estrada Real (Brazil), the Tapé Aviru (Guaraní road system crossing Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil), the Jesuit Way (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay), the Slave Route (referring to the slave trade between Africa, the Caribbean, and the Americas), or the Gaucho Road (Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil), represent the diverse and rich heritage of the region. In this context, the EU-LAC Dialogue Sessions aimed to highlight the challenges and opportunities in preserving and promoting cultural routes and cultural heritage on a bi-regional level.
The II. EU-LAC Dialogue Sessions were introduced by Leire Pajín, President of the EU-LAC Foundation, Claudia Gintersdorfer, Head of the Regional Americas Division at the European External Action Service (EEAS), Pablo Grinspun, Ambassador of Argentina to the EU and Representative of the Presidency Pro-Tempore of CELAC (PPT CELAC), and César Landa Arroyo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru. In her welcoming remarks, the President of the EU-LAC Foundation emphasized that “the field of culture is a sector of great opportunities for cooperation between the EU and LAC. Therefore, the EU-LAC Foundation wants to create a roadmap with the aim of strengthening the dialogue between actors at regional, bi-regional and international level." Both Co-Presidencies of the EU-LAC Foundation, the EEAS and the PPT CELAC, agreed on the essential role of culture and the shared ideals and values in the bi-regional partnership, and their institutions’ will to seek spaces for advancing cultural collaborations on all levels.
On 17 February, the first panel addressed current challenges in the management of Cultural Routes and the opportunities that have arisen through new trends in digital technology, education, and cultural tourism. Key contributions were made by Stefano Dominioni, Executive Secretary of the Enlarged Partial Agreements on Cultural Routes and Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes, Carmen Daly Schelbert, Vice-President of the Americas at ICOMOS, Núria Sanz Gallego, Special Advisor to the FAO Climate Change, Environment and Biodiversity Programme, Director of the FAO/UNESCO Action Plan, Barbara Minguez, Assistant Project Officer, Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit, Culture and Emergencies UNESCO, and Eladio Fernández Galiano, Special Advisor to the Council of Europe’s Cultural Routes Programme. The panel was followed by a presentation of the Qhapac Ñan Andean Road System, an extensive Inca communication, trade and defence network of roads covering 30,000 km, by Claudia Prado (Technical Secretary Chile), Luis Lumbreras (Technical Secretary Peru), Victoria Sosa (Technical Secretary Argentina), Paloma Leguizamón (Technical Secretary Colombia) and Kyra Torres (Technical Secretary Ecuador). The first day of the II. EU-LAC Dialogue Sessions was concluded by Adrián Bonilla, Executive Director of the EU-LAC Foundation and Ezio Valfré, Director of Cultural Policy of the General Directorate for Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru, who emphasized the common effort to create Qhapaq Ñan as a World Heritage by the civil society, diplomatic missions, and the UNESCO with the aid of its technical advice. Therefore, Qhapaq Ñan is a role model of successful multilateral cooperation and management in the realms of culture.
On 18 February, the second part of the II. EU-LAC Dialogue Sessions focused on common interests regarding the protection of cultural heritage and cultural routes in LAC and the EU, as well as on public policies, initiatives and good practices on the national, regional, and bi-regional level that have contributed to the promotion of culture and sustainable tourism. The panel featured Ernesto Ottone, Assistant Director-General for Culture UNESCO, Barbara Gessler, Head of Unit of Creative Europe at the DG Education, Youth, Sports and Culture, European Commission, Natalia Armijos, Director General of Culture, Organisation of Ibero-American States, José Francisco Román, Historian, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, and Diana Guerra, Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies and Faculty of Arts and Human Science, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Before concluding the event, Miguel Ángel Martín Ramos, President, and Quintín Correas Domingo, Manager of the Cooperation Network of European Routes of Emperor Charles V, presented their work at the Cooperation Network of European Routes of Emperor Charles V, the traditional (sea and land) routes used personally by the Emperor.
The II. EU-LAC Dialogue Sessions were concluded by Ambassador Carlos Herrera, Director General for Cultural Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru, calling on the necessary shift from political to social appropriation towards more sustainable and inclusive management of cultural heritage. Subsequently, the Executive Director of the EU-LAC Foundation thanked all participants for their commitment to advance the common bi-regional agenda in response to the impacts of the pandemic. He, moreover, emphasized the urgency to boost creativity in the management of cultural routes with populations and communities at the centre of public policies.
