Our natural and cultural area is the nocturnal landscape on the Gurnigelpass near Bern. The excursion starts at Gurnigelpass at 1600m elevation above sea level. The landscape is protected as a mire landscape of special beauty and national importance and lies in the tourist hotspot in the Gantrisch Nature Park. On beautiful weekends hundreds of cars park here, thousands of hikers explore the beautiful peaks. In the evening it gets quiet again. Then the nature park becomes a star park. You can see here thousands of stars with your naked eye. We stand in our dark heart, which beats continuously. Here, the day and night rhythm and the moon cycle may still play almost without artificial light effects.

We are just about to gain our first experiences with the guided tour, which starts at dusk and leads into the night. My colleague is a nature pedagogue and biology teacher and already has some very good elements in her guided tour that encourage the participants to be quiet and attentive. I have already successfully completed the guided tour, too, but I noticed that a night excursion completely differs from excursions during the daytime: I do not see the participants. A night tour also makes the participants much quieter. This means that I cannot read any reaction in their faces to the things I say, and requests to speak are much sparser. I am also not a monologue person and have a bad fact memory, so I was looking for a more interactive concept for guided tours. With this hope, I joined an IE CIG course – and expectations were exceeded. 

I developed the concept for a short interpretive walk as my homework. For the first time I stood in line to look for phenomena. It is dark at night, so I cannot see anything! In November, you could not hear a single bird singing and in the cold and in the first snow you hardly smell anything. I told a colleague that I saw nothing but the lights of the city, a parking lot, the mountain range with the Milky Way above us, the dark forest entrance. She said: but that is quite a lot! Which was true. Therefore, these were my phenomena. Since the tour was booked in the middle of the two weeks between parts of the CIG course, I had the opportunity to test elements of the tour. As a theme, I chose: ‘In the heart of the Star Park, on the Gurnigel, there is a nightlife of its own’. As feedback, I received an idea from Thorsten Ludwig, IE Managing Director who was leading the course: ‘Where we can feel the night, we can feel the heartbeat of the earth’, which, of course, fits very well to the dark heart idea and I like it even better. 

Many people signed up for the guided tour and so with 25 people I went into the darkness. I encouraged them to walk quietly and to sharpen their hearing. After a short walk we arrived at a large flat square, with a view over the lights of Thun and up into the clear sky above us. With a thought journey to Alpha Centauri, the participants experienced the enormous distances between us and the stars. During the sea of lights, we discussed where the light comes from and its meaningfulness. Standing on the parking lot, people could tell about their experiences on the Gurnigel – and how the place turns its face when night falls. The theme was: ‘This place has its own laws at night’. We slowly went up a hill and let the dark forest entrance have an effect on us, according to the theme, ‘In the dark forest there is no more reliance on human eyes’, or ‘We always see only a part of the whole – especially in the nocturnal forest’, where we among other things went into what is going on around us and how animals orient themselves. In order to sharpen the senses, we then walked through the forest in a queue of people on a rope, which the people perceived as the strongest experience, because they had to completely rely on all other senses and on the people in front of and behind them. 

The feedback was very good, although the conversations could have been more lively. I am sure I will be working on it more and look forward to the next tour (with my CIG course colleagues).
Maybe some of you already have experience with night excursions – I’d be happy to have an exchange! 

Nicole Dahinden is a geographer and currently works at the Gantrisch Nature Park in the Forderverein Region Gantrisch, Bern, Switzerland (www.gantrisch.ch  www.sternenpark.ch). She has been working in this field since 2013. Nicole can be contacted at: Nicole.dahinden@gantrisch.ch.

To cite this article:
Dahinden, Nicole (2019) ‘The dark heart of Gantrisch’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 4-2019, 22.
Available online: www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/ie-newsletter_2019-4_winter.pdf

In the latest project Run by NGO Legends we collected local legends, myths, stories and gossip, connected them to natural and cultural heritage and went for a special walk. A walk on the edge of reality.

NGO Legends is a small organisation that focuses on educational activities and development of new products. In our annual ‘School of heritage interpretation’ we focus on methodology of different tools of heritage interpretation. This year we decided to focus on storytelling, not just as a form, but also how we can use storytelling in thematic guided tours. 

First, we looked at what could be possible to achieve in two days in our local community. We were very ambitious. But we exceeded even our own expectations with the final result. 

We collected local folk tales and asked around some local connoisseurs. We also asked our local library whether there was any more material from what we had already gathered. We found enough material, but were a bit disappointed that stories do not live outside the books anymore.

We also needed some more practical knowledge about storytelling. So, on the first day, one of our members and a member of a storytelling group, Teja Peperko, led a short workshop, where we gained some practical tips on how to construct a story and how to tell it in a way that leaves a mark on visitors. 

On the second day, eight participants chose a story and went around the town to search for the best place to connect their story to. As a group we decided how the individual stories would follow on from each other and what heritage connects the stories to the landscape. Afterwards, each participant worked individually on their story and also decided through which character in the story to represent it. Participants had quite free hands and also a lot of imagination. We then together chose requisites, costumes and makeup for each storyteller.

The aim in the end was to connect the stories into a guided tour. In the evening, when it started to get a bit dark and mysterious, we invited a focus group to be our first guests and evaluators. 

It is quite a challenge going into a one and a half day workshop with the aim to present a final product to the public. But we did it. A bit more than an hour-long walk with eight stories and eight storytellers, which were happy with work well done. Our visitors gave us very positive feedback on the tour being something different, not static and full of stories that even the locals didn’t know before. 

Janja Sivec is IE’s Country Coordinator Slovenia and works for NGO Legends – a small Slovene organisation that focuses on education and trying new things in the field of heritage and interpretation. You can reach them at: info@dlegende.com. 

To cite this article:
Sivec, Janja(2019) ‘Looking for the partners: To walk with Legends’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 4-2019, 18.
Available online: www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/ie-newsletter_2019-4_winter.pdf

The 9th Regional Meeting of Alpe Adria Guides took place on 6 February 2019 and one of the topics was the education of tourist guides in relation to interpretation of the places for which they are licensed, as well as the heritage they are interpreting. Tina Hudnik and Maja Campelj, aka G-Guides, decided for the first time to change the venue of this year’s meeting so instead of Ljubljana, Slovenia, it was held in Klagenfurt, Austria. And they were fully supported by the Chamber of Commerce of the Carinthia region, which was a very welcoming host, and the Austria Guides Association and Slovenia Professional Tourist Guides Club. The event was excellently structured so, through three lectures held by tourist guides from the Austria Guide Association, we learned how much, in essence, we are connected regionally, historically and culturally. Patricia Gerlich told us about the Counts of Ortenburg and their relationship within the Alps-Adriatic region, Irene Weber presented Danse Macabre, or Dance of Death, giving examples from Austria, Slovenia and Croatia, whilst Martha Mann told us an interesting story about Julius Kugy, a great mountaineer, botanist and writer, a lover of the Julian Alps.

Whether we admit it or not, we can never know everything. No matter how much we learn and improve ourselves, there is no tourist guide or tour leader who can know everything about all destinations. Impossible, and that’s it! Dalmatian people would say, Give the child to the mother. And they’re right. Because, no matter how great an internet guru you are, you will simply be unable to find on those stories which local tourist guides have heard from their grandmas and grandpas, from a lady Mare who doesn’t remember which day was yesterday but she undoubtedly remembers her neighbour Joža making pots in his workshop and how she with her friends used to pass by his workshop accidentally and always got something from him. Not to talk about legends, stories, customs. But to make sense of all that, local self-government has to provide the infrastructure, schools and colleges must provide adequate education, professional associations deliver quality upgrading and specialisation, whilst guides have to constantly improve themselves and their skills.

A panel discussion, in which a range of differently qualified stakeholders participated, looked at how to connect all the elements of sustainable tourism with a focus on the role of tourist guides providing universal satisfaction. Iztok Sila is a lecturer at the Higher Vocational College for Hospitality and Tourism Bled, Gregor Fodransperg is the owner of Slovenia Explorer travel agency, Georg Overs is the Villach Region Tourist Board Director, Antonella Comelli is a tourist guide from Udine, Elizabeta MIlanović is the Central Podravina Tourist Board Director and I, Ivana Karanikić, am a tourist guide and the owner of Prolingua travel agency.

Besides the fact that we both come from Croatia, my colleague, Elizabeta, and I have another common link – we are both Interpret Europe Certified Interpretive Guides. And if judging by the positive reactions of participants to our presentation, I believe that we were more than successful in transferring the basic postulates on which Interpret Europe creates courses for interpretative guides to approximately 120 colleagues who participated in this event.

In a pleasant 90-minute discussion, we all agreed that Alps-Adriatic Region undoubtedly presents untapped potential and that actually we, tourist guides, are those who can, with the help of tourism stakeholders and decision makers as well as educational institutions, make a step forward in cross-border cooperation and promotion of this beautiful region we live in. Likewise, we agreed that there should be more such events because they surely are an excellent opportunity for meeting colleagues and networking.

Tourist guides have always been and always will be, regardless of turbulences, a force which breaks the cultural differences between tourists and visitors and the local population – the best ambassadors of their country, history and heritage, and therefore an important wheel in the mechanism of sustainability of a destination and launching the economic development.

Ivana Karanikić is a licenced tourist guide, tour leader and the owner of Prolingua travel agency (www.prolingua-travel.hr) and is an IE Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG). She can be contacted at: ivana.karanikic@prolingua-travel.hr.

To cite this article:
Karanikić, Ivana (2019) ‘Tourist Guide – a power that destroys cultural differences’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 1-2019, 20.
Available online:
www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/ie-newsletter_2019-1_spring.pdf

It all started with beauty, over 20 years ago… the younger me was lying at the open boot of my father’s van, returning from a weekend on Andros island. I looked up at the clear sky, the uninterrupted horizon, the sunset colours. I inhaled the clear wind and felt immensely alive. A strong wish flooded from within. I want to live here…

Unavoidably, this is a personal story, but depersonalising it could be the story of any urbanist seeking connection to nature, a meaningful quest, a sense of real life. It could also be the story of locals rediscovering their neglected heritage; areas of breath taking beauty handcrafted by their ancestors. 

Andros Routes, initially a fluid idea of interpreting the landscape of Andros, became a project to revive the ancient walkways and make them useful again for the community. 

The story in snapshots:
•    2005 First touch: My permanent move to Andros. I walk along the old footpaths. Beauty inspires me deeply.
•    2009 Vision: ‘Andros Research Centre’ is born, to host research and creative conservation activities. By recording oral history, we understand the landscape – an effort christened, Andros Routes.
•    2010 Earthly involvement: Launching a voluntary scheme of footpath clearing. Delivering the first interpretive walks.
•    2011-12 Roots on routes: Footpath clearing.
•    2013 Fundraising & learning: We write a book and issue a map and hikers tools, generating income for maintenance. We get training from the European Ramblers Association (ERA) on developing quality trails.
•    2014 Setting social goals: We communicate the idea of a quality certification and fundraise, achieving private local support.
•    2015 Accomplishment & recognition: After two years of intensive work, we complete the maintenance of 160km. We receive the quality certification Leading Quality Trails -Best of Europe from ERA. Strong publicity of the achievement boosts local pride.
•    2016 Results: The footpaths become a local theme, travel organisations and individuals visit Andros for hiking, extending the tourist season. Important European publications renounce Andros a ‘top hiking destination’.
•    2018 A conservation social net: 20 volunteers hold good knowledge on path maintenance, recording, communicating and working on problems with locals. Five volunteers coordinate, support hikers, pursue local involvement, cooperate with tourism organisations, create earnings for the paths and work with authorities to improve policies. 
Our project has been a creative attempt at rural heritage interpretation: oral history interviews, footpath maintenance, guided tours, articles written, public presentations – all together an interesting mosaic of interpretation. The ancient walkways have been our gate to understanding.

It was only recently that I had the chance to join Interpret Europe’s invaluable course for Certified Interpretive Guides (CIG), at Syros island, taught by the gifted trainer, Valya Stergioti. What an amazing feeling when you see your field experience through a structured methodology! It has been a diamond. My hopes fly to the day this will be embodied to the Greek education system. 

Why walk? Well, walking on ancient steps may be a way to reconnect to our agricultural past, to reach parts of rare beauty and cultural wealth, where all ‘progress’ has sprouted from.

Olga Karayianni is the coordinator of Andros Routes Project www.androsroutes.gr. She recently finished her PhD in sustainable tourism, being carried away by the mystical footpaths of Andros and – hopefully – the non-futile battle to save them. She can be contacted at: info@androsroutes.gr 

To cite this article: 
Karayianni, Olga (2018) ‘Andros Routes: Walking for heritage on a Greek island’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 1-2018, 24-26. 
Available online:
www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/ie-newsletter_2018-1_spring.pdf  

Nature, landscape and the vegetation of each place, represent the territory and history. The intrinsic relationship between climate, soil and human interaction with its culture makes each place in the world unique.

Through thematic tours and using, for example, herbs and flowers, there is an infinite range of possibilities to understand and enjoy the natural and cultural heritage of each place.

By promoting the use of all the senses, and the edible resources of the landscape, we can achieve a different way of knowing the intangible heritage of a place in the most vivid way.

Direct experiences can be offered through aromas, tastes, … different sensations that nature offers us to approach the culture and its values. Activities, such as: the Ratafia (a herbal catalan liqueur), the Jewish Pantry or being part of the Sustainable Tourism Map, which are coordinated with other entities, such as the Ratafia Brotherhood, the Jewish Museum, or the Barcelona City, guarantee the quality of our work in this direction.

Supporting the popular culture of each place through the dissemination of the traditions and values of the people, their customs and culture related to the relationship with nature over time makes people more aware of the natural resources, so that we can learn to conserve and love our territory in order to guarantee its sustainability in the future.

For example, combining wine and flower tasting can be a very engaging way for people to learn about our culture through nature: learning about the elaboration of a traditional liqueur, such as ratafia, which is made with dozens of wild plants for ingredients, or a wine pairing with flowers to their territory. People can discover the Mediterranean diet trough a botanical walk. 

People can also learn about the Jewish culture or Greek traditions with plants as the common denominator. Or even use the herbs and flowers of a place to make the most simple and traditional dishes to the most sophisticated and avant-garde cuisine where the thousands of options that nature offers us will deepen our understanding of our culture.

These are some examples of activities that connect people with nature and with the intangible heritage, but at the same time being unique to each place.

Evarist March Sarlat is an IE Certified Interpretive Guide Trainer (CIGT) and a nature guide for Naturalwalks, Catalonia (www.naturalwalks.com). He is a botanist specialising in the use of plants, wild mushrooms and algae and their uses in cuisine and for promoting health. You can contact him at: evarist@naturalwalks.com

To cite this article: 

Sarlat, Evarist March (2017) ‘Learning culture through nature’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 3-2017, 13. 

]]> https://interpret-europe.net/news/2017/a-multi-sensory-discovery-of-the-provencal-landscape-and-terroir/ Sun, 30 Jul 2017 22:00:00 +0000 https://ie.chb.ba/other/2017/a-multi-sensory-discovery-of-the-provencal-landscape-and-terroir/ Read More]]> How can such rugged landscape yield such sweet products, smells and colours? 

Every year, millions of tourists visit our national parks, nature parks, museums and cultural historic places. But how does this make a difference in their lives? How will a tree, a historic monument or an exhibit become meaningful for them? Authorised by the US National Park Service, Freeman Tilden visited many national parks and museums in the USA to find answers on these questions. He summarised his experiences in the book ‘Interpreting our Heritage’.

Although it was written in the 1950s, it is still up-to-date and the definitive book for everybody who is involved in the field of heritage interpretation. The fourth edition was released ten years ago.
Reading this book reinforced my conviction to integrate heritage interpretation much more in the activities of Nationalparks Austria.

Since the book was not available in my mother tongue, the desire to have this book in German one day grew more and more. Thanks to an initiative of Nationalparks Austria, we were able to publish the first German edition of the book that defined the structure for heritage interpretation.
Together, with Nationalparks Austria and the National Park Gesäuse, Thorsten Ludwig published the first German edition and added an extensive introduction. The translation by Daniel Fuchs is very close to the original text and remains very easy to read. The new edition includes completely new pictures to show interpretation in a contemporary and a more European light.

Nationalparks Austria represents not only six breathtaking National Parks but is also an association with the ambition to constantly improve the work of the National Parks. The publishing of the book was enabled by the Austrian Rural Development Programme. Special thanks go to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management of Austria and the European Union.

I am very proud that we started and completed this particular project and I would like to encourage you to do it likewise to spread Tilden’s thoughts and ideas and to support the future development of heritage interpretation in Europe.

We hope for many readers of the book, but mostly for a successful implementation of interpretation in your paid or voluntary work, be it at a cultural-historic site, in a protected area or at a totally different place, wherever people encounter their heritage.

Herbert Wolger is Director of Gesäuse National Park in Austria and member of the steering committee of Nationalparks Austria. Gesäuse National Park is in charge of training for park rangers within Nationalparks Austria and other common activities related to education. You can get in touch with him at: herbert.woelger@nationalpark.co.at

To cite this article:
Herbert Wolger (2017) ‘Interpreting our Heritage – finally available in German’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 1-2017, 21

Available online:
http://www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/ie-newsletter_2017-1_spring.pdf

I live in one of the Greek paradises, Sifnos island in Cyclades; an ideal place for combining nature and cultural heritage. Here you realise that you can’t have the one without the other and you can’t talk for the one without talking for the other at the same time.
I’d like to share with you just a few examples, but there are many more.
We live in a rocky place, with less water than we need, and more hills and mountains than we would choose, so cultivation has always been and still is a struggle. The dry-stone walls, everywhere on the island, are ‘just’ stone on a stone, thousands of years old, and they were built in order to create flat pieces of land, keep the little soil and little rain so as to make cultivation possible, separate properties and indicate private from public land. These walls were built to last forever and this is exactly what they do.
Our houses, storehouses, dove houses – in fact, all our buildings – take weather into consideration: the kitchen to the west to be cool; openings to the north to avoid humidity; shade with grapes or jasmine plants; cisterns underground to collect the valuable rain water – that is why we have flat roofs in Cyclades; white walls (traditionally calcium carbonate, an antiseptic material people could make by burning stones) to reflect sunshine. Weather still affects many jobs, even today: agriculture, fishing, trade and transportation (no boat if it is windy), the construction industry, etc.
Local climate has been the excuse for nature to create incredible plants. In Sifnos – ok, in other islands too – there are plants that can grow without any water at all! Tomatoes, string beans, potatoes, chickpeas, fava beans, cucumber, courgette – many plants know what it takes to live without water. They are smaller than massive production products but a hundred times better!
Almost the same with herbs – very strong species grow with a very strong smell because of the lack of water. They are very effective as medicines as well. We still use herbs from the mountains to deal with different health problems.
Many of our customs and religious celebrations have roots in nature and many of them have their origin in ancient times. Christmas is connected to ancient celebrations for Dionysos and the days which start to become longer; the Carnival celebrates the end of cold, winter days; Easter is connected to the new birth for plants.
Our protected plant (not the only one!) in Sifnos is a kind of Cedar tree (Juniperus juniperus) called ‘immortal wood’ in the local dialect. In the past, it was used a lot: the branches and leaves for the pottery kilns, the trunks for the ceilings and sometimes floors. It is a strong plant, like a bush if it is wild, but it can also become a tall tree if you prune it. We say ‘it never dies’ and the proof is visible in Kastro village, with ceilings 800 years old!  
On an island, you can’t talk about nature and culture without including the sea. The water around us affects almost everything. People’s character, the feeling of isolation and freedom at the same time, the food and pleasure SHE gives, the captains and sailors SHE accepts and helps, the myths, fairy tales and secrets SHE hides or reveals. There are numberless songs, poems and stories about the sea (not accidentally a female noun in Greek language!)
You see, nature affects culture and culture affects nature so when you try to make people love your place, you can’t separate one from the other.

Ronia is a guide and event planner on Sifnos, Greece. She likes writing and talking about her island, and also looking for different ways to make people see inside it! She can be contacted at: ronia@sifnosevents.gr and also on Facebook.

To cite this article:
Ronia Anastasiadou (2017) ‘When nature and culture become the real, living story’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 1-2017, 17

Available online:
http://www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/ie-newsletter_2017-1_spring.pdf

Valya Stergioti works as a freelance interpretive trainer and planner and is the Training Coordinator of Interpret Europe. For more information about the CIG and CIGT courses, please visit: http://www.interpret-europe.net/top/training/ie-summer-courses-2016.html or write to: valya.stergioti@interpret-europe.net

To cite this article:
Stergioti, V. (2016) ‘Summer courses, great expectations’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 2-2016, 23

Available online:
http://www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/ie-newsletter_2016-2_summer.pdf

Dr. Valeria Klitsounova is Chair of the Board of the NGO ‘Country Escape’ and Associate Professor of the Belarusian State University. She is the author of the very first book on interpretation in Russian ‘Heritage interpretation in tourism: new approaches in experiencing the economy era’. She is an NAI and IE member. You can get in touch with her at lera.greenbelarus@gmail.com. 

To cite this article:
Klitsounova, V. (2016) ‘First interpretive guide training in former Soviet Union countrie’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 2-2016, 12

Available online:
http://www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/ie-newsletter_2016-2_summer.pdf