In the city of Tartu, in the second largest and most picturesque city of Estonia, the International Thematic Seminar and the corresponding Study Visits of the EPICAH project were successfully held. The seminar was held between 5 & 7 June 2019, at the “Dorpat” Conference Center, which was attended by more than 40 representatives of all partners of the EPICAH Interregional Project “Effectiveness of policy tools for cross-border heritage promotion”, in order to participate in the two-day work, organized as part of the implementation of the project, by the Peipsi Center for Cross-Border Cooperation (Peipsi CTC) of Estonia.
The work of the Thematic Seminar also attracted the interest of many local agencies, organizations and professionals related and active in the fields of tourism, but also the protection, management and preservation of cultural heritage at the regional level, whose representatives closely followed the presentations and recommendations of the speakers.
The Greek side was represented on behalf of the Region of Western Macedonia by officials of the Regional Development Fund, whose responsibilities relate to the management of cultural and natural heritage, as well as tourism.
During the 2 day, the following took place:
- On 5 June 2019, a meeting was held between EPICAH project experts, who exchanged information and discussed the main conclusions regarding the study visit and the Thematic seminar held in the cities of Tokaj and Pilsen. In addition, a study visit was made to the cities of Setomaa and Võromaa in order to present and analyze the good practices implemented in these areas, in Southern Estonia.
- The 2nd day of the International Thematic Seminar was about making a visit to the twin cities of Valga (Southern Estonia) and Valca (Northern Latvia), which use the motto “One City, Two States”, have common urban transport and are a model for the development of border urban planning and tourism. Also, the good practices from the implementation of the European projects “Livonian Cuilnary Route” and “Coastal Hiking” were presented, as well as the cooperation development models in the Estonian-Latvian cross-border region.
- Finally, the third module/day of the Seminar was about the study visit to the highly valuable cultural and historical region of Mulgimaa in southern Estonia.
The success of the two-day work of the European project EPICAH in Estonia, lies in the fact that the main objective was highlighted in the best possible way, which was none other than the exchange of know-how and the transfer of the experiences gained, from the application of good practices developed through actions co-financed by European resources in the cross-border area of Estonia-Latvia. These actions are 100% sustainable and exploitable after the completion of these projects, and have created a pioneering perception regarding tourism at a regional level.
