CECOP-CICOPA: Cooproute, building European heritage
Today Cooproute, the European Route of Cooperative Culture, has been presented at a conference in Brussels, the capital of the continent where the cooperative movement was born in 1844, near Manchester. As a key sector of the European economy which easily connects European citizens, tourism represents a very effective sector to enhance the European heritage. “Meeting tourists, cooperatives can easily transmit their culture and values, which play a key role in building the European society. Supporting Cooproute is an opportunity we offer to enrich our citizens through the diversity which the cooperative culture represents”, Luca Dal Pozzo, president of CECOP, said. In the same sense, Silvia Draghi from the Tourism Policy Unit at the European Commission underlines that cooperative values have become European values.
The conference participants expressed the reason why cooperatives are an inspiring model in offering a sustainable tourist experience, while disseminating the cooperative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. The debate also recommended to European stakeholders that Cooproute should be recognized by the Council of Europe as a European Cultural Route. “The cooperative culture is good for Europe,” said Ms Silvia Costa, Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education at the European Parliament, “because it is inspired by the sustainability of development, it has entrepreneurial spirit but with solidarity and, above all, it has a great ability to seize new people’s needs, in the respect of their territories.”
Around 80 destinations are already part of Cooproute. They are cooperatives and museums offering a sustainable and innovative tourist experience all around Europe; they preserve the local cultural and industrial heritage while promoting the history and values of the cooperative movement, with a specific focus on youths. The choice of destinations is varied. At the moment, most of them are museums, historical and natural sites, while others offer entertainment and accommodation, as well as services directly related to tourism. There are also cooperatives active in education, agriculture, social work or craft production which provide significant tourist experience. The majority of them are worker cooperatives and social cooperatives.
