IE coordinators are a cornerstone for HI-People.
HI-People is a key project for Interpret Europe over the next four years. It will build the capacity of our network organisation and members but also reach out to other heritage professionals, institutions and networks to promote the role of heritage interpreters practicing value-based and people-centred approaches in heritage interpretation (HI) as a response to some of the critical challenges facing Europe today.
That outreach begins with our community of country and subject coordinators and so we organised a first face-to-face meeting attended by some 20 coordinators following #icon25 in Sulejówek.
As part of their commitment to Interpret Europe, coordinators should organise a promotional event each year. HI-People will boost these initiatives by proposing a series of 20 national networking events over the next four years to be run by our coordinators. These are ‘professional meet-ups’ with a creative touch to promote IE and heritage interpretation to showcase our training but also to strengthen ties with national networks and build local partnerships. They could take the form of info sessions, training tasters, roundtables, site visits or mini-forums and involve museums, universities, parks, tourism boards and local authorities together with national IE members and trainers also attending to lend their support.
The success of these networking events relies on the reputation and abilities of our coordinators to create a buzz and attract the right attendees. Yet, just like many freelance interpreters, the life of a voluntary coordinator can be a lonely one with limited support to overcome challenges to their work.
The message from the meeting was that ‘we are better together’ to support one another. While HI-People represents an opportunity to energise our community of coordinators around a collective project task, they should feel ready, willing and able to play their part. That means enabling new and established coordinators to share their skills and experience to address mutual needs and solve common problems together.
So, we started a course of action in Sulejówek. The HI-People project team and IE management are working with our coordinators to provide appropriate direction and support so that they can meet at regular online sessions and face-to-face once a year, to take the initiative to co-create their activities. This would mainly focus on getting to know each other better, feeling a sense of belonging, identifying common problems and offering support and solutions from one another. This is the healthy foundation we need for success, connecting IE management, subject and country coordinators more closely.
What are the key takeaways? It is important to be listened to, share experiences and feel a sense of belonging and togetherness. Our coordinators count, and a strong collective spirit where everyone contributes is essential for joint success, to build our community to not only play a crucial role in the HI-People project but also to support and value our coordinators’ work for their own professional development and for Interpret Europe.
Want to learn more about HI-People? Visit the projects page on the IE website for more details.
[https://interpret-europe.net/projects-p/]
Sandy Colvine is Project Manager for IE and coordinates the HI-People and Empaths projects. Based in Southern France, he is also an IE certified trainer and a former member of the IE Supervisory Committee. You can contact him at: alexander.colvine@interpret-europe.net.
To cite this article: Colvine, Sandy (2025) ‘We’re better together!‘ in Interpret Europe Newsletter 1-2025, pg. 11.
Available online: PDF Newsletter Spring 2025
