Label Cities and Countries of Art and History (VPAH)

Burgundy-Franche-Comté has 15 territories that implement the label.

In this agreement, communities or territories develop a cultural project of territory, by which they undertake to:

• Present the heritage in all its components;
• Sensitize the inhabitants to their environment ;
• Welcome the tourist public;
• Initiate young people in architecture and urban planning;
• Ensure the communication and promotion heritage for a diverse audience;
• Implement a program thanks to a certified qualified personnel (an Architecture and Heritage Facilitator and Speaker Guides)
• Develop training activities for municipal staff, tourist and social mediators, associations.

This involves:

• Have an architecture and heritage animation service led by an architect and heritage animator;
• Propose documentation presenting their heritage and the programme of their actions (visits, exhibitions, conferences...);
• Organize discovery tours led by tour guides which are based on diverse themes such as contemporary architecture, urban planning, industrial heritage, unusual places, built and unbuilted heritage, gardens and landscapes... Regular training of tour guides is essential;
• Set up an educational service for young people to organize educational discovery actions for school children in partnership with teachers, but also during leisure time or holidays;
• Create an architectural and heritage interpretation centre (CIAP) hosting a permanent exhibition on the territory and the architectures that structure it (stages of its urbanization, local materials...).

In terms of mediation and facilitation, AHVs use professional “speaker guide” guides. Since March 2012, this unique map replaces the previous four regimes (regional and national speaker guide, regional and national interpreter guide). The card is issued within the framework of a professional license, provided by the Universities.

Government support and the role of the DRAC:

Application and renewal of agreements:

The application or renewal file presents the cultural project of territory on the basis of a diagnosis or assessment. This document constitutes the indispensable soil for the drafting of the Convention. All of this work is the subject of many meetings with the DRAC, which brings to the community its scientific and cultural expertise.

Choosing a team:

The DRAC participates in the recruitment jury of the animator of architecture and heritage in charge of implementing the convention. It encourages the regular training of tour guides.

Scientific and cultural support:

The RDCA accompanies the community in the implementation of his projects by bringing him his scientific and technical support. She participates in the scientific committees set up on the occasion of the creation of the Centres d’interprétation de l’architecture et du patrimoine.

Financial support:

The DRAC brings its financial support the implementation of projects provided for in the framework of the VPAH Convention, particularly in the field of educational actions and awareness-raising tools. She participates in the Cost of the Architectural and Heritage Facilitator position for two years, as well as at financing of the scenography the Centre d'interprétation de l'architecture et du patrimoine.

In Burgundy-Franche-Comté (in 2019)

10 cities and 4 country (in total about 450 communes/ about 450,000 inhabitants).

• Autun
• Auxerre (extension in progress to the agglomeration community of Auxerrois)
• Belfort (agreement to be signed in 2019)
• Besançon
• Chalon-sur-Saône
• La Charité-sur-Loire
• Dole
• Dijon
• Nevers
• Joigny (current extension to the community of communes of Jovinien)
• The country of Auxois-Morvan
• The Charolais-Brionnais Country
• The Country between Cluny and Tournus
• The Country of Montbéliard agglomeration

Beyond this initial training, the DRAC encourages the continuing training of guides by certified communities.

In its support of the community project, especially in the preparation of VPAH applications and during the renewal of conventions, the DRAC Burgundy wishes to emphasize:

• The quality of heritages but especially their consideration in the territorial project at the scale of a basin of life (intercommunality, country...);
• Integration and transversality of heritage, architectural and urban policies;
• The mediation of heritage and architecture with all the public, especially the inhabitants (school, families, prevented or distant public of the culture...), opposite of a vision mainly tourist (which is complementary and closely related). The Cities and Countries of Art and History are privileged actors for the development of arts and cultural education;
• The need for regular evaluation and shared monitoring between the State and communities.

Les Éditions du Patrimoine publishes a collection of guides dedicated to Cities and Countries of Art and History; those already published for the region are:

• Autun
• Chalon-sur-Saône
• Country of Charolais-Brionnais
• Country of Montbéliard 

To order online, go to website of the Éditions du Patrimoine.

Also available on the website of the Ministry of Culture