IE News

If you missed the first of our online events, stay tuned for details of the next and join in to further your IE professional connections. Interpret Europe’s role is to support heritage sites and individual professionals from more than 45 countries and to encourage exchange amongst them. We would ...Read More

iecon25 – Call for papers is open!

The planning for our next conference is well underway and now it is over to you … Time to spend your autumn evenings planning your contribution. Call for papers If you were with us at the conference in Koper, Slovenia, you will certainly remember the warm invitation from our Polish...Read More

Culture Moves Europe

Third European Commission call for individual mobility of artists and cultural professionals. This call is open until 30 November. It provides financial support to artists and cultural professionals who wish to carry out a project in another Creative Europe country, in collaboration with an international partner (either an organisation or ...Read More

What’s going on elsewhere

A quick look at some news from other organisations and recent events. UK’s AHI celebrates turning 50 The UK’s Association for Heritage Interpretation (AHI) has been awarded £150,000 Sterling from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for their Interpretation Gold project.The initiative celebrates 50 years of AHI ...Read More

Reviving Via Egnatia: Heritage-based interpretation, storytelling and gamification

An immersive exploration of heritage through storytelling and interactive techniques aimed at preserving the ancient European landscape. From September 23-28, 2024, Durrës in Albania hosted a comprehensive training programme focused on heritage-based interpretation, storytelling, and gamification. Organised in partnership with MuZEH Lab, a nonprofit organisation and small museum ...Read More

Time Travel with Queen Maria: Innovative storytelling and cutting- edge technology

Combining real-life, hands-on activities with a captivating AR and VR journey to create a unique immersive blend of history and technology. On September 15, 2024, Skopje in North Macedonia hosted an innovative event titled, ‘Time Travel with Queen Maria – A Gamified Journey to the Middle Ages’. This immersive ...Read More

How a museum changed

After moving from West Germany to East, I was lucky that the first museum I visited in this region was the Oderbruch Museum. Little did I know, the Oderbruch is one of the best examples of successful transformations of cultural institutions in Germany. Oderbruch is a small area (920 sqkm ...Read More

The legends of Biograd came to life

Living history tours took place this summer in Biograd na Moru, Croatia, to immerse new audiences in our stories. Summer was the perfect time for guided interpretive walks, living history tours, legends, and tales. Biograd na Moru is a small city that is very much in touch with history. Living ...Read More

Co-creating interpretation from the ashes

What could happen after a mega-fire strips your natural heritage and all purpose from your interpretation? Since the ’90s, the Dadia National Park in NE Greece attracted visitors from all over Europe. The reason was simple: 428 sqkm of Mediterranean forest with an impressive variety of birds of prey ...Read More

Inspired interpretive writing in Spain – Join us for an IE CIW course

A great opportunity to practice your capacities in interpretive writing, at a beautiful venue and within an international group of participants. This five-day course for Certified Interpretive Writers (CIW), in English, was due to take place from 4 to 8 November, in Ronda, Spain, but it has been postponed ...Read More

Try telling historians to get rid of dates!

The IE CIW training shook interpretive habits as participants learned to stop using so many dates and military language. The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is a Government Agency. Its mission is to maintain military cemeteries and commemorative sites and educate about their history. Most of our interpretive staff rightfully ...Read More

Training guides for innovative interpretation of cultural heritage

Chisinau, Moldova’s capital, was the setting for an IE Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) course in July 2024. During the hot days of summer, Chisinau hosted an Interpret Europe CIG course, supported by the USAID Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Project (RCRA), in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, the National ...Read More

Going Green, and Big

Interpret Europe is one of the partners in The Big Green Project – Going big to use art to promote sustainability. The Big Green Project is funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the EU. It unites 15 partners from 13 countries, among which are non-governmental organisations, universities, artistic groups ...Read More

New partnership with UNESCO WHIPIC

Interpret Europe starts a five-year collaboration to foster a new interpretive approach for World Heritage Sites. On 8 October 2024, the directors of Interpret Europe and WHIPIC, Helena Vičič and Chang-nam Hong, signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement provides a framework for collaborations in research and capacity ...Read More

Kick-off for the Learning Landscapes initiative

UNESCO sites will pilot a holistic approach to interpretive planning. Interpret Europe, in partnership with UNESCO, is embarking on an exciting initiative to develop a ground-breaking methodology that shall transform UNESCO-designated sites into hubs for participatory learning through heritage interpretation, while tackling global challenges through heritage interpretation. The ...Read More

We are shifting into fifth gear

An array of activities will unfold to meet members’ needs in the next four years. IE has secured financial support for its activities, which so far largely depended on membership fees, and will allow us to operate on another level. We have received a considerable financial boost from the Creative ...Read More

Where does the past meet the future?

Heritage – a continuous dialogue between past and future. Mindful engagement with heritage empowers the past to shape our common future. "Where the Past Meets the Future" was the motto of the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage. But where does this meeting truly occur? Is it in the grand...Read More

GAHI Webinar: Creating First Nations Community-led Digital Interpretation at Murrook Culture Centre

August 8, 2024

Global Alliance for Heritage Interpretation is inviting all interpreters around the world to a series of webinars in 2024. Join the next one: Tuesday, 20August, 04:30 CEST Creating First Nations Community-led Digital Interpretation at Murrook Culture Centre Murrook Culture Centre is a special project, not only to the ...Read More

Erasmus +

Many of our members have delivered projects under this funding - keep an eye on the website for opportunities. Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe, with an estimated budget of €26.2 billion. The 2021-2027 programme places a strong focus on ...Read More

Outstanding heritage

Europa Nostra has announced this year’s winners of the European Heritage Awards. Entries for the Public Choice Award are open until 22 September. I am pleased to write to you on behalf of Europa Nostra in my capacity as Programme Manager of the European Heritage Awards/Europa Nostra Awards ...Read More

Touch the heritage

Looking at the design process to create an exhibition of Albanian and North Macedonian monuments for people with visual impairments. It was January 2024 when MuZEH Lab, a non-profit organisation, started to design an exhibition in Durres for people with visual impairment, working together with our partners from North ...Read More

Per aspera ad astra: The rebirth of Rione Sanità from neglection to rediscovery

A story of cooperation, active community involvement, and rediscovery of local beauty through the power of heritage interpretation. The Sanità district in Naples had a brilliant transformation thanks to the efforts of a local priest, Father Antonio Loffredo, and a group of young people. Starting in 2001, they reopened the ...Read More

Can we live up to what we preach about?

The challenges of environmental sustainability in exhibition planning. When it comes to exhibition planning, we have to face a very complex and often challenging task where we navigate amid the client’s needs and wants, content development, budget, design, deadlines, and so on. We are very much focused on the ...Read More

Natural Sanctuaries in the Collsacabra bioregion

Interpretation of the meanings and spiritual values of natural tourist hot spots to change the behavior of visitors and improve conservation. Collsacabra is a natural bioregion located one hour north of Barcelona. Made up of three small towns that together have a total of 2,667 inhabitants, it welcomes several ...Read More

Interpretive news from Bakar, Croatia

Bakar Tourism Board joins Interpret Europe as an institutional member - a logical step having organised three Interpret Europe courses. For years, Bakar Tourism Board has been an inspiring example of a destination management organisation that turns to heritage interpretation. This spring, they decided to underline this by joining Interpret...Read More

Lessons from South America

Some ideas from my experience of training interpretive guides in diverse natural environments. I would like to share some of my experience of the last ten years as a trainer, and highlight some aspects that I consider relevant for the successful development and delivery of training courses for interpretive guides ...Read More

Taking you to another time and place

IE's Module on Live Interpretation (MLI) reached a milestone when it was tested in Prague. Interpret Europe has been working on the development of training for live interpretation for years. Costumed performances immerse the visitors into another time and place. It presents an opportunity to bring a historical site ...Read More

Getting familiar with interpretive planning

How a course can inspire and become a meaningful experience It was my pleasure to attend the IE Certified Interpretive Planner (CIP) course that took place recently in Athens, Greece. I work for a company with extensive experience in producing high-quality natural and cultural interpretations. Due to my completely ...Read More

Further development of IE’s training programme

Our new Training Coordinators say hello and give an insight into their thoughts for the future of IE training. After seven years of extraordinary work, Valya Stergioti stepped down from the role of Training Coordinator at the end of 2023. Her legacy is a fully working training programme, which includes ...Read More

Interpret Visegrad initiative – Regional success

The third round of projects promoting regional cooperations among the Visegrad countries has come to an end. While Interpret Europe offers invaluable continent-wide opportunities for cooperation and learning for professionals in heritage interpretation, regional cooperations present somewhat different landscapes for more specific needs and interests, with opportunities for learning ...Read More

Back to school to practice value-based heritage interpretation

Many IE trainers honed their skills together as the Lym fjord in Istria, Croatia, hosted the first ever summer school for them. Besides team-building and bonding, the primary reason for IE trainers to gather in person for a five-day long training was to acquaint themselves with the principles ...Read More

Lessons from our parents: Heritage isn’t just about the past

Parents are our first teachers, and their relationship with their children often reflects key principles of the interpretive approach to heritage. What can we learn about heritage from our parents? I've been reflecting on the invaluable lessons my parents imparted, particularly my father, who recently passed away. Their guidance ...Read More

The awkwardness of being provoked

April 22, 2024

Some thoughts and reflections one year post-CIG training. Time flies. Almost one year has now passed since I attended the IE Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) course at Valdres Folk Museum in Fagernes, Norway. For me, the course was an eye-opener, and an initiation into the practice of focusing ...Read More

Erasmus+

April 22, 2024

Many of our members have delivered projects under this funding - keep an eye on the website for opportunities. Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe, with an estimated budget of €26.2 billion. The 2021-2027 programme places a strong focus on ...Read More

UNESCO and IE launched Learning landscapes initiative

April 22, 2024

The first regions around UNESCO designated sites will be turned into hubs for value-based heritage interpretation by the end of 2025. Since 2020, value-based interpretation has become IE’s unique proposition to the heritage sector which is increasingly being urged to contribute to a better future. Learning landscapes ...Read More

Bridging heritage communities with interpretive frameworks

This methodology can create space to articulate and honour community-valued notions of heritage, as the heart of any interpretation strategy. When the powerful write history Normally the spoils of victory go to the winners, but not at the Battle of Little Bighorn, Wyoming, USA. In 1876 Lt. Col. George ...Read More

From military cemeteries to prehistoric burial sites

In January, 14 interpreters from the American Battle Monuments Commission met in Draguignan, France, for the commission's first CIW training. The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an agency of the executive branch of the American government. The commission is the guardian of overseas commemorative cemeteries and memorials from ...Read More

Creative course in the city on a grain of salt

The city of Tuzla hosted 12 participants from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina for an IE CIG course. Tuzla, the city on a grain of salt, is in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is one of the oldest settlements in Europe with continuity of life. The oldest stilt houses settlement in ...Read More

Impressions of iecon24

Whether you joined iecon in Koper or missed out, here is a flavour of the experience as we already look forward to meeting again in 2025. Once again IE created a meeting place for lovers of heritage interpretation in all its various forms. A place to find participants from Asia ...Read More

Finding the future of heritage interpretation within ourselves

Seeking to challenge mindsets on sustainability at the Interpret Europe conference #iecon24 held in Koper, Slovenia, on 21-24 March 2024. What can be achieved in four days of conversations, presentations, lectures, workshops, meals, bus rides and site visits, with a view to sustainable development within the heritage interpretation sector ...Read More

Provocation with a capital P

The thought-provoking power of a graffiti message that stopped me in my tracks. “We are all eco-terrorists!” The striking message in capital letters in green paint on the concrete road barrier receded in my rear-view mirror as I drove home but it stuck in my mind. The ...Read More

General Assembley results