The General Assembly of the Members of the ‘Routes of the Olive Tree’ Network of 21 September 2019, has elected as President, the French Mr Edouard de Laubrie…
Greeting of the new President
It is a great honor for me and I thank the General Assembly of the “Routes of the Olive Tree” Network for electing me President of the “Routes of the Olive Trees”. My rencontre with the “Routes of the Olive Tree” dates back to 2003. That year, I was working at the National Museum of the Popular Art & Traditions at Paris, which became the “Museum of European and Mediterranean Cultures” in Marseille in 2013. In 2003 I discovered Olive Tree Culture, through the cultural Routes of the “Routes of the Olive Tree”, which was an initiative, full of humanity and generosity, values that I appreciate deeply. I was impressed by the passion of the inspirational, charismatic personality of George Karabatos and his collaborators that took such an original and bold initiative… in activities that I had the opportunity to participate in, for example on the wonderful 2008 cultural route for meeting the peoples and cultures of the Near East and Central Asia. The “Routes of the Olive Tree” is an adventure, with an immense understanding and love for people, women and men, that are living with olives trees, which are living next to the olive trees, this tree which has thousands of virtues.
In 2020 the ‘Routes of the Olive Tree” face exciting challenges: the development of the route in the Adriatic-Ionian region, in the Balkans, in Spain, even in the Black Sea or even the Caucasus. With a passion for olive cultural heritage, museums and cultural heritage centres, I hope to be able to contribute to the Network, through my experience in this field, and in particular, by incorporating this dimension of European heritage to contribute to the implementation of new local development practices and sustainable tourism.
Marseille (France), October 2019
Edouard de Laubrie