COMMUNICATION

The European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation has come together with other entities from Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean through a triangular cooperation alliance in order to jointly and complementarily work together to exchange knowledge and tools in terms of cultural routes and itineraries. (09/10/2023)

The project “Cultural Routes and Itineraries for Territorial Development” that has been approved by the European Union’s innovative programme “Ventana Adelante 2”, seeks to take advantage of the knowledge that entities have on the value of heritage and how they contribute to the promotion of sustainable development for its implementation in Ecuador.

Ecuador has opted for cultural routes and itineraries as vectors that constitute one of the most effective means to promote sustainable development in the territories. Along with the institutions that make up this alliance and the Ventana Adelante programme, some of the country’s routes, such as the “Ecuadorian route of origin of cocoa”, will be promoted.

The initiative, which will take place between September 2023 and May 2024, will provide a benchmark as a pilot experience and an incentive for other countries and regions seeking to develop cooperation strategies in this area. In this sense, one of the planned activities includes a dissemination session in Cáceres in mid-March.

Yuste Foundation will present the model of the Routes of Emperor Charles V in this session, which is certified as a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. The Foundation took part in the creation of this route, which currently includes more than 80 members from 13 countries in Europe and Ibero-America.

The Triangular Cooperation Alliance —made up by the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI), as the coordinating entity, the Ministry of Culture and Heritage of Ecuador, the Metropolitan Institute of Heritage of Quito and the Secretariat of Culture of Quito, beneficiary institutions, together with the Autonomous University of Zacatecas “Francisco García Salinas”, the European Institute of Cultural Itineraries (EICR) and the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation— will jointly and complementarily work together to exchange knowledge and tools in terms of cultural routes and itineraries, experiences that have been developed since 2022 by the Interinstitutional Cooperation Programme that is promoted by the OEI.