A platform for pilgrimage routes throughout the Nordic region
Detailed and easy-to-use maps with up-to-date information are an important prerequisite for a pilgrimage – and therefore for the pilgrim routes to be developed. Being able to find information gathered in one place is also an important prerequisite for making it easier for pilgrims. Creating a platform for pilgrimage routes throughout the Nordic region has been an important goal for PaxWalk, as pilgrim routes are often long-distance routes that cross national borders and connect sites over great distances.
History of the name
The name of the association has been inspired by the peace walk that was carried out in 2011, 50 years after Dag Hammarskjöld’s death, from Uppsala to Backåkra and which was called the PAX walk. The name also expresses an understanding of pilgrimage as a pursuit of inner peace and outer peace. Every pilgrimage must be, as it has been expressed in the World Council of Churches: “a pilgrimage for justice and peace”.
Long-term collaborations
Part of the association’s work has been to develop a model for how the special character of the pilgrim routes can be described. Our goal has been to develop a number of motifs that recur in the description of what a pilgrimage route is. Based on these motifs, we have tried to create an overall picture of pilgrimage and pilgrim routes that at the same time allows for a diversity of different perspectives and points of view. As part of the work to offer good information about pilgrimage, the association has also become involved in issues relating to the organization, development and management of the trails, including a project in Uppland with support from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and in collaboration with dioceses and parishes.
Although PaxWalk’s main task is to work with the association’s map platform, it has turned out that we also need to strengthen the quality of the trails that exist and to create structures that can take responsibility for how the trails develop in the long term.