The European Route of Cooperative Culture (Cooproute) is an itinerary of cooperatives whose activities significantly contribute to the preservation and the development of their area’s cultural and industrial heritage. By doing so, not only are they making their area attractive to tourists, but they are also actively promoting cooperative values such as self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.
Indeed, cooperatives are autonomous associations democratically managed and controlled by people who come together to meet common economic, social, and cultural needs. Cooproute also includes entities, such as museums, whose activities contribute to the promotion of the cooperative history and culture.
Cooproute was launched between 2013 and 2015 under the coordination of the European confederation of industrial and service cooperative CECOP-CICOPA Europe, in the framework of a project co-financed by the European Commission under the Call 44/G/ENT/PPA/12/6460 “Cooperation projects to create transnational tourism products based on cultural and industrial heritage”.
Cooproute is dedicated to all those interested in discovering sustainable and innovative tourist destinations, while learning about the cooperative entrepreneurial culture throughout Europe.
Cooproute targets particularly youths. Visiting those destinations, youths can enjoy a fullimmersion in cooperative values, learning how cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities. Through Cooproute, people can plan their next trip or discover their own region through the several tourist experiences offered by each destination part of the itinerary.
All the cooperatives and entities that want to strengthen their tourism potential while promoting the history, culture and values of the cooperative movement can apply. More information here.