The Council of Europe's Cultural Routes make Europe's shared traditions, cultural connections and heritage tangible and accessible. Crossing national borders, they bring communities into dialogue and help residents and visitors explore the continent's shared history and diversity.
Academic research is key to tracing the routes' impact and supporting their future development. On 12-13 November 2026, the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland hosted the second International Conference of the University Network for cultural routes studies. Under the theme "Advancing and sharing knowledge for a better programme of Cultural Routes", the conference brought together international academics and heritage practitioners to exchange research and strengthen the programme's scholarly foundations.
Charting our shared European identity
The event aimed to reinforce the University Network and develop research agendas to support the Cultural Routes programme. Discussions covered digitalisation, governance, rural development, education, tourism and heritage, examining how academic knowledge can advance the routes' contribution to a shared European identity.
The conference opened with an exploration of Switzerland as an example, or a detail that contains the complexity of the whole, of living with and managing diversity of cultures and culture heritage. A new "scientific humanism", bringing together culture and science together, was proposed as the approach and philosophy for the relation between academic knowledge and the experiences of cultural routes practitioners.
As the network's anchor institution, USI has made Lugano a living laboratory for the conference themes. The city and surrounding region are also a crossroads for Council of Europe Cultural Routes. For the Via Francigena, Lugano is a key stop along the route. Set out by Archbishop Sigeric in 990, the 3,200-km historic pilgrimage route crosses England, France, Switzerland and Italy, inviting slow discovery of Europe's landscapes, history and cultures.
A round table on "The role of Switzerland in the cultural routes programme" brought together the Swiss representative of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe and representatives of three cultural routes for an exchange of perspectives on Switzerland's contribution to the cultural routes programme of the Council of Europe with shared inspired practices and future perspectives.
By combining academic rigour with the tangible heritage of Ticino canton, the second international conference has established a solid basis for future policies, research and international cooperation in protecting Europe's shared cultural routes.
