In 1987 The Council for Cultural Co-operation launched the theme of "rural cultural heritage", during the European Campaign for the Rural World, and adopted a first framework of actions entitled "Architecture without borders".

The inauguration of this route took place in Wellenstein, a wine-growing village at the borders of Germany, France and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. On September 25, 1987, more than four hundred people took part in this celebration, which featured the conference "Rural heritage and local development" organised by the Council of Europe with the assistance of the Association "Rurality Environment Development".

The route initially took into account the question of the rural settlement and dwellings starting from four transborder circuits totalling about 2000 kilometres, established among the Province of Luxembourg in Belgium, Moselle in France, the Länders of the Saar and the Rhineland-Palatinat in Germany and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Each circuit corresponds to a particular type of landscape and habitat: the Ardennes house, the Gutland house, houses specific to the Lorraine and Moselle regions. The most significant villages on the route were announced by a panel representing the logo of the solar wheel that can still be found on many doors in these areas.

Many historical territories in Europe that were separated by borders find themselves in situations similar to those of the geographical areas where the circuits were already set up. This topic thus has to make possible the restoration of transborder co-operation in the territories that faced multiple conflicts, as is the case of south-eastern Europe; it also has to enable deep unity and thinking about the question of the minorities heritage. Moreover, the question of the valorisation of rural areas arises in a crucial way all over Europe, as this space is in the process of turning into a desert, a process still active in Western Europe; this then requires that we find a balance between protection and development, as in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This theme crosses all European space and relates to all epochs, insofar as the surviving testimony of rural life constitutes so much of the memory of traditional society.

The questions of regional planning and of sharing experience concerning the protection of the habitat are vital. This route emphasises an always inhabited heritage and thus makes it possible to mobilise Europeans in their places of life and work. It contributes to awakening a sense of the importance of protecting and valorising the cultural landscape, while trying to divert the floods of tourists from their usual tracks and bring visitors to remote villages. Visited and recognised, these little frequented villages will become concerned with the image of their living conditions and will implement a project of reasonable and long-lasting development. A work concerning transborder vernacular architecture along the routes of the European south-east has started, in collaboration between the Institute and the ICOMOS Bulgaria, at the border between Bulgaria and Greece.