Women Writers Route has received its second consecutive Good Practice Award at the Annual Advisory Forum of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe. At the recently concluded forum in Cappadocia, Turkey, representatives of the Governing Board of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes — which brings together delegates from all participating countries — expressed strong appreciation for the Ljubka’s Trail project.
Developed by the FSK in partnership with the Lojze Bratuž Cultural Centre of Gorizia and supported by the GO!2025 Interreg Italy–Slovenia Small Projects Fund, Ljubka’s Trail was distinguished in the category of Cultural and Educational Exchanges for Young Europeans. As part of the initiative, tourism students and teachers from the Cankar–Zois–Vega technical schools took part in training sessions to become tourist guides for the Ljubka Trail. The young participants successfully completed the programme and, on 8 March, International Women’s Day, received official certificates qualifying them to guide visitors along the route.
To mark the project, a special concert titled “Pevski odmev Ljubkine poti” (The Singing Echo of Ljubka’s Trail) was held on 19 February, the birthday of Ljubka Šorli. The event brought together 200 young singers, members of eight children’s and youth choirs, and seven choir conductors from Slovenia and Italy. Performing to a full house at the Grand Hall of the Lojze Bratuž Cultural Centre, they presented Ljubka Šorli’s poems set to music specifically for the occasion by Patrick Quaggiato, accompanied by renowned musicians.
Each year, awards for inspiring practices are presented at the programme’s largest and most significant gathering, recognising excellence across five categories aligned with the priorities of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe, known as cooperation in research and development, enhancement of memory, history and European heritage, cultural and educational exchanges for young Europeans, contemporary cultural and artistic practices and cultural tourism and sustainable development
Last year, the Women Writers Route was honoured in the category of Enhancement of Memory, History and European Heritage for the guided tour “Bold and Borderless”, which celebrates women writers who shaped the cultural and intellectual identity of the Gorizia region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.