—The VII Sustainable Heritage Management Workshop, organised by the abertis foundation at the UNESCO headquarters, has brought together acknowledged experts in architecture, architecture and heritage.

—This is the first workshop that the abertis foundation has organised in France, the abertis Group’s second-most important market.

The abertis foundation has today celebrated, in the UNESCO Auditorium in Paris, the VII Sustainable Heritage Management Workshop. Under the title Cultural Itineraries and the Formation of Europe, the encounter has benefited from the participation of acknowledged European experts in art, architecture, archaeology and heritage and has examined, in-depth, the contribution of cultural itineraries as promoters of cultural exchanges in the formation of large socio-political combinations and, especially, in the construction of Europe. The Director-General of GAIA-Heritage and former Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, Georges S. Zouain, was responsible for coordinating the workshop.

The encounter made clear how, over the course of history, the exchange of goods and knowledge has facilitated the appearance of great civilisations and cultural and scientific advances. Developments in means and the speed of transport have contributed to the appearance of increasingly large and complex cultural and economic areas. What happened at the end of the Middle Ages with the progressive integration of rural markets and the creation of urban markets thanks to safer and more accessible transport routes is still happening today, and facilitates the progressive fusion of ideas and cultures, thereby strengthening of cooperation between countries.

After the holding of six workshops in Barcelona and Madrid, this is the first such event that the abertis foundation has organised in France, a country that is the second-most important market for the abertis group, which manages infrastructures for mobility and telecommunications.

UNESCO’s Paris headquarters represents a highly significant venue for this encounter, given that this is the world’s key organisation in the conservation and protection of cultural heritage.

abertis in France

The abertis group, which manages transport and mobility infrastructures, has a significant presence in France. In the field of motorways, it carries on business through operator sanef, which manages motorways in the north and east of the country. In the field of telecommunications, abertis is present in France via satellite operator Eutelsat, in which it is the largest shareholder, with a 32% stake in its share capital.

With 37% of total income and 38% of total EBITDA for the group, the French market is the second-most important for abertis, behind Spain. Close to 30% of Group employees work at sanef, which makes it the second-largest such grouping in the company.

The abertis foundation

The mission of the abertis foundation is to encourage research into the repercussion of large-scale transport infrastructure on the territory, above all on the economy, demographics and the environment. It also carries out a wide-ranging Road Safety Programme and organises socio-cultural activities, with the focus on historical and artistic heritage. Additionally, the Foundation, together with other organisations and bodies, supports university research, organises workshops, symposia and social and cultural activities, and publishes prestigious scientific books.

The Sustainable Heritage Workshop is an example of abertis’s commitment to culture, via activities that promote the value of cultural heritage and its positive impact upon the community. With this objective in mind, abertis complies with Spanish legislation, investing 1% of its motorway works in improving and enriching cultural heritage, thereby collaborating in its conservation and promotion.

Conclusions of the VII Conference onSustainable Heritage Management. Cultural itineraries and the formation of Europa 

UNESCO Palace, Paris, 29 November 2007 

• There are many kinds of cultural itinerary. There is no one single type of cultural itinerary. There are as many types of itinerary as types of heritage they explain. The types and kinds of itinerary are as diverse as their subjects. 

• Man conveys, uses and transforms art and heritage. Human beings –inventors and users– are at the beginning and the end of every itinerary, of very exchange of art and heritage. Human beings convey, use and transform. They adapt their skills and art to the surrounding conditions. Thanks to means of communication and markets, they convey they art, exchange their know-how and techniques, enrich it and improve its state. 

• It is religious itineraries that have most contributed to the formation of Europe. Itineraries can be religious, spiritual and of pilgrimage. This type of itinerary has doubtless, more than others, given form to Europe. They differ from the others in that they are always alive, the thus call for a different style of management.

• Cultural itineraries of the past are a modern invention. Cultural itineraries of the future have not yet been invented. Cultural itineraries of the past are a modern invention, in much the same way as “heritage” was an invention of the French Revolution that has involved until it has become heritage as we understand it today. Itineraries of cultures and ideas have not accompanied mankind’s evolution since its beginnings. But acknowledging them and understanding their function allows us to make better use of them. With this, as is the case with the silk routes, they allow for a common search and consideration in Europe.

• Understanding an epoch that appeared in an itinerary helps us to interpret it. Itineraries are processes that have appeared over time and their –often instantaneous– interpretations should bear in mind this point to understand how transfers, exchanges and fusions have taken place. Taking time into account can be a valuable lesson for the future.

• Cultural itineraries foster diversity. Cultural identities are federative. The allow one to discover others, understand them and integrate them in a system of mutual understanding. Given that they are federative, cultural activities encourage diversity and enrich cultures. At the same time, the allow for the sharing of a common heritage.

• Communication route boost the fusion of ideas and of the arts. Without the possibility to communicate, there is no exchange, no fusion. The networks, routes and paths of the past and modern instruments have facilitated and still facilitate these exchanges and bring us closer to one another. They boost the fusion of ideas and of the arts and contribute to a more united world. Without a vector, there is no exchange, and there is no common creation without a shared heritage.

• An increasing number of companies are supportive of protecting heritage. In the private sector, an increasing number of companies are concerned about protecting heritage and contribute towards doing so. This is necessary, given the increasing demand for heritage. Amongst these companies, abertis, through its Foundation, carries out innovative work. Not only does it use the “cultural 1%” differently, but also, via the abertis foundation, it continually explores new heritage-related territory.