On 6 November Massimo Tedeschi, President of the European Association of the Via Francigena Ways, and Ildefonso de la Campa Montenegro, President of the European Federation of the Saint James Ways, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, focused on collaboration between the two cultural routes of the Council of Europe, recognised in 1994 and 1987 respectively.
The Horizon 2020 rurAllure project concludes on 31 December 2023. Over the past three years partners from six European countries worked together to enhance rural heritage along pilgrimage routes spanning 18 countries and over 11,000 km, creating a more appealing and accessible experience for visitors.
Among the winners of the Photo Contest “Share your route” 2023 , the Romanian pilgrim Arabella Stănescu won the first prize for her beautiful pictures of the Norwegian St. Olav’s Way shared on the Instagram profile @abiishigh.
Slovakia offers a wide range of experiences related to nature, culture, history, and gastronomy, which can be explored in sustainable way thanks to the rapid development of walking tourism. The Via Mariae (the Way of Mary) pilgrimage route, crossing the country from south to north, connects spirituality and the natural beauty of the territories such as fertile fields, lowlands, vineyards, mining and mountainous areas with many streams and forests.
The Instagram profile @denise_laspina_ won the 1st prize of the rurAllure photo contest 2023 for the category Via Francigena: last June, this young Italian solo-pilgrim covered 100 km in 4 days from Great Saint Bernard to Pont Saint Martin, walking till 24 hours in one day!
One of the winners in the second edition of the “Share your route” photo contest is the Instagram account @nanchus81, which earned recognition for the most inspiring story, showcasing a captivating photo gallery of the French Camino de Santiago. We reached out to Nancy, a self-proclaimed “traveller soul made in Argentina,” to delve into the details of her remarkable journey on the road.
The accessibility of an itinerary is one of the founding values that make up the rurAllure mission. The congress held in October 2023 in Madrid at the CSIC – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Superior Council of Scientific Investigations), was dedicated to the inclusive science communication.
Last October, the Hungarian rurAllure team organised a workshop for key stakeholders about the key exploitable results of the project and an online event focused on the technological platform and the mobile app as an opportunity for vendors.
This project has been funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement no 101004887.
