Creating learning landscapes through heritage interpretation

Creating learning landscapes through heritage interpretation

In 2023, after months of groundwork, Interpret Europe—together with UNESCO—launched an ambitious new initiative: Learning Landscapes. This forward-looking initiative seeks to transform UNESCO-designated sites and their surroundings into living learning environments, offering a fresh, value-based approach to heritage interpretation. At its core are interpretive agents, professionals rooted in their local regions, who turn heritage into a catalyst for change—fueling local development, strengthening community bonds, and inspiring participatory governance.The programme is especially aimed at site management bodies and local government agencies responsible for World Heritage properties.

A new approach to heritage interpretation

Learning Landscapes brings together local stakeholder networks to co-create meaningful heritage experiences. The aim? To make heritage more relevant in everyday life—and to inspire people to care for our common world. Capacity building is central: IE experts mentor local interpretive agents, while IE-certified trainers deliver established course programmes. These range from strategic planning to hands-on services such as exhibitions, tours and interpretive media.

UNESCO sites will thus become platforms for participatory, interdisciplinary and context-sensitive learning. Heritage professionals—from guides to curators and planners—will gain the skills to craft everything from overarching strategies to detailed exhibit concepts. By developing a shared vision and concrete plans, stakeholders will also have a strong foundation for fundraising and implementation.

The learning journey

The initiative developed in three phases.
First, each region nominated two participants for an intensive workshop held in Kotor in 2024, where they qualified as interpretive agents.Back in their regions, the agents—supported by IE mentors—engaged local communities in co-creating interpretive strategies of the area. Building on this, Certified Interpretive Planner (CIP) courses enabled participating stakeholders to design interpretive plans for individual sites within their areas. Finally, through Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) and Certified Interpretive Writer (CIW) courses, these plans and strategies were brought to life, as local professionals developed programmes, exhibitions, and interpretive media. All outputs are interlinked with the overarching interpretive strategy, ensuring a unified and coherent vision.

Desired impact

With UNESCO’s mission of peace, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue at its core, Learning Landscapes has the potential to bring lasting positive change—for heritage sites, their communities and society at large.
Participating sites will:

• Become inspiring landmarks that people feel connected to
• Reveal hidden stories and values that enrich everyday life
• Spark moments of revelation, encouraging reflection and new ideas
• Provide welcoming spaces where people from diverse backgrounds meet
• Empower people to interpret heritage for themselves, not just listen to experts
• Create memorable experiences that stay alive for years to come

Just as importantly, the initiative helps unite stakeholders—public institutions, businesses, civil society—around a shared, future-oriented vision.

Growing collaboration

The partnership between IE and UNESCO has been evolving since 2019, through workshops and regional training for World Heritage Site managers and visitor centres, led by UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe. A milestone came in 2023, during IE’s annual conference “Creating Learning Landscapes through Heritage Interpretation”. Building on that momentum, the Learning Landscapes initiative now takes shape, closely aligned with UNESCO’s values of peace, intercultural dialogue and sustainability. It also connects to UNESCO’s Framework for Culture and Arts Education (2024), which calls for heritage sites to serve as vital learning environments—both formally and informally.

Call for new Learning Landscapes

As this first phase concludes in early 2026, six new Learning Landscapes will be launched . Could your region be one of them?

About UNESCO

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, promoting peace, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, science, culture and communication.
Learn more at www.unesco.org.

Stay tuned—Learning Landscapes is just beginning. Together, let’s reimagine the role of heritage.