Re-vitalisation of the European Culture Route in the South Baltic Area – Pomeranian Way of St. James

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The project aims at reinforcing the existing cultural heritage to use it for regional development as a new tourist product in the SB Region - Tourist Route of St. James and at mobilisation of local societies (in particular young people) around join initiative. The Routs of St James have recently gained importance (added to the UNESCO list of cultural heritage in 1987) due to the desire of the European citizens to come back to the European cultural roots. The evidence can be a book "Ich bin dann mal weg. Meine Reise auf dem Jakob" by famous TV presenter Hape Kerkeling. Such routes established in Germany, Southern Poland and in many other countries enjoy a high level of popularity. The main idea behind is encouraging people to a slow move through different countries and regions tasting their diversity and understanding their specificity. This corresponds to ancient habits when people spent hundreds of days moving to Santiago de Compostella being exposed to cultural diversity, new ideas and development trends. St. James Route also used to exist in the SB Region stretched from Konigsberg through Gdańsk and Szczecin to Rostock and further on westward. The project aims at restoration of this particular Route and joining the existing heritage with broader European network. This is not a simple tourist project. It aims at "social inclusion" of social groups rarely engaged in such form of tourism e.g. families with young children who rarely visit Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (M-V) or old in many cases less educated people from Lithuania or Poland who normally spent their holidays home. It will create for them opportunities to visit neighbouring countries in inexpensive way. It will also enable handicapped people to take part in the tourist undertakings. Last but not least it will mobilise local social groups around the Route idea by e.g. training volunteers to serve and assist Route users. The important added value of the project is economic and social activation of the areas lagging behind both in Poland and in Lithuania and better use during off peak season of the existing tourist facilities. The project also offers the SB better positioning at European level. The region will become a part of a wider pan-European undertaking i.e. European tourist network rapidly gaining importance. The project will be composed of four components: C1 management, C2 dissemination, C3 creation of the route, C4 building a social part of the Route. The logic of the project is based on two features: need to capitalize on existing cultural heritage and on existing experience: transferring know how from Germany to Poland, Lithuania and Russia and testing its application in those countries. The main results are following: establishment of a new SB tourist product, social activation of the regions lagging behind, increased tourist mobility among social groups rarely engaged in high quality tourism.

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