Since its inception, the cultural routes programme has been interested in the industrial revolution in Europe. The textile indeed constituted the laboratory of a new approach to production both in the field of techniques and working methods and in that of a new organisation of society.

Starting from an assessment of the methodology implemented for silk and textiles, the great fields of industrial production will be examined to draw some the general conclusions about the birth of a new working topic: "Heritage and Industrial Society".

a great variety of proposals

A cultural route cannot be born a priori. It needs not only a favourable territorial situation involving elected officials and project carriers, but also the will to make this local situation find exemplary value, transposable to other local situations. Apart from the cities participating in the production of textiles, mining territories, iron and steel areas and metallurgy in general, the industrialisation of paper production, as well as that of the transformation of cork lend themselves to crossroads approaches requiring an analysis of the conservation of the site, of tools and techniques, as much as an emphasis on the characteristics of the society that witnessed them.

At present, there still exists a will to implement a route of the industrial and mining heritage coming from the group "Minet" gathering a dozen institutions, English, French, Italian, Spanish and Irish, from the group "Homes de ferro" (Andorra, Spain and France) and the "European Iron Trail" (Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Germany and Austria). To these proposals were added a route of industrial ceramics (Portugal) and a route of paper in Europe (Spanish Catalonia, Finland, Germany, England and Italy). One could not of course forget the many enterprises from the Grande Région, whose geographical structure lends itself particularly well to the establishment of transborder routes between large basins, set up at the end of the last century.

a basic methodology

Several questions related to development must be examined, based on work already undertaken by various institutions on the conservation and reemployment of the industrial heritage:

• Industrial heritage and tourism
  • How to open to the public the archives of local companies, which can support regional strategies?
  • How to convince contractors that broader participation, including visits to companies that enable the public to evaluate directly the operation of a workshop, is essential for the success of a project related to living heritage?
  • How to improve communication among cities and regions, by means of the portal of the Institute, so that they be mutually informed about the possibilities of attracting visitors?
  • How to integrate cultural activities in the policies of tourism on heritage (music festivals, folklore...)?
  • How to study the socio-economic repercussions of these projects and how to communicate their results?
• Industrial heritage and regional development

  All the areas and cities concerned have in common the fast decline of their industry, which is at the origin of significant job losses and of the closing down of buildings of great architectural value, which have become superfluous. Various strategies should be debated by the speakers on the topic of development by means of industrial heritage, by tackling key questions.

• • Strategies for the development of heritage must rest on studies and be supported by policies concerning the safeguarding of buildings and landscapes, the search for materials and witnesses of the past and the collection of information on this subject.
  • Regional development can use built heritage, archival capital, factories, education and research centres.
  • The very term heritage includes population, collective memory, the way of life and local culture; this is why positive strategies increase the confidence and pride of the local population.
• Re-dynamizing industrial areas

• We have most elaborate examples resting on the narrow association of strategies for the conservation of the heritage and strategies of economic revival. For the textiles, for example, Manchester and Athens revitalised the old districts neighbouring the city centre, aiming to create small islands of creativity by supporting a mixed economy (cultural production, retail trade, coffee shops and residences).

  Another series of questions is thus posed:

  • How to associate the revival or partial maintenance of industry with the conservation of heritage?
  • How to maintain technical traditions by transmitting them to the new generation?
  • How to transform recent architectural monuments into familiar reference points to perpetuate cultural identity?
  • How to develop strategies of local partnerships between planning authorities, local industry, higher education establishments and the community in order to solve problems together, to coordinate the initiatives?

• Industrial innovation

  The cities and areas that adopted this point of view followed a method, which enabled them to grow. They currently enjoy a revival of traditional industries. For the textiles we already have the town of Boras, which set up a centre for textile creation and technology for the Swedish textile and clothing industry. The town of Saint-Petersburg, in collaboration with the community of independent states, restructured its textile industry to seek new markets. The town of Lyon took initiatives to develop its sector of textile creation and technology. The town of Erevan created a fashion centre and set up an educational centre to support companies to stimulate local production and the search for export markets.

The conclusions of this meeting and the examination of this capital question should lead the Council of Europe to use, on this subject also, the framework of the cultural routes for the set-up of an exercise of memory relating to the essential question of the changes in the industrial fabric in the great Europe and to that of the changes in work forms still affecting Europeans today.