Country coordinators

After I finished my master’s in history and master’s in cultural management in 2010, I worked at the university of Antwerp as an educational assistant. During my full-time job, I achieved my educational diploma which gave me the skills and knowledge to give young people the opportunity to learn about history. But I wasn’t convinced the classroom was the only or the perfect environment to learn. I changed jobs and started to explore the heritage sector from the inside.

Stories about places, buildings and objects had fascinated me throughout my whole life and so I was thrilled to use my enthusiasm and experience at The National Trust of Flanders, Herita. During those years I sharpened my project management skills through being involved in all kind of projects: from heritage event coordination and supporting heritage educational projects to the creation of knowledge-sharing products like videos, articles, websites and (international) conferences on heritage. In this period, I got to know Interpret Europe very well because I was Conference Manager for IE’s conference in Mechelen in 2016. A whole new perspective on informal learning and on the profession of ‘heritage interpretation’ opened up for me and has held me ever since.

Also, during this period, there occurred the most important thing that changed my view on society and the role of culture in it. Together with my best friend, I founded Allez, Chantez!, which is a movement to let people sing together and build stronger communities. A journey of searching how to create an impact on society through singing communities started then. My view on how participation, co-creation and taking ownership are strong tools to give people the power to discover themselves, make connections and contribute to a warm and mutually supportive society all became visible, tangible and meaningful to me. In all the projects we do, we place the people of a community in the centre and use a bottom-up approach. This is the way I want to build stronger communities in society, through accessible cultural initiatives like singing (because everybody can use their voices) and through heritage. Because I believe heritage, and places you connect with, have the power to bring people together and shape warm communities. Two passions combined in this way.

After a period of internal focus, becoming a mother of two beautiful and inspiring kids, I felt I wanted to spread my wings and follow my heart. I recently started my freelance career and plan to deal with (heritage and singing) community building projects and heritage interpretation in reusing projects. After some years working as a volunteer, I am now working as a freelance contractor on the project. As a member of the board of Madeleine vzw, the legal headquarters of Allez, Chantez!, my business partner Annelore Camps and I share our knowledge on cultural entrepreneurship and community building in the cultural sector in Flanders.

I feel as a freelancer I can combine my two passions: heritage and community building. I am ready and convinced that contributing to projects which give natural and cultural heritage a deeper meaning is how I can serve society and how I can build stronger communities.

I live in Sarajevo and studied archeology at the Faculty of Philosophy, and art, at the University of Sarajevo where I got my BA and master’s diploma. I received a BiHERIT Tempus scholarship, financed by the EU with the aim of reforming the heritage sciences in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This led to a student exchange at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana.

From July 2016 until December 2017, I worked as a volunteer in the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the pedagogical department, and as a museum guide in the archeological department. Together with my fellow students, I am coauthor of an exhibition dedicated to the famous Bosnian archeologist, Đuro Basler. During my studies, I was involved in numerous archeological work on national protected sites, which took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Slovenia. I was also involved with the Commission to Preserve National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina on promoting 2013’s International day of Archeology in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I was always enthusiastic about tourism, travelling and exploring new places and people. As a tourist and as a worker in the tourism sector, I like stories that connect us with places where people lived and are still living, about the history and the magic between history and nature, culture and intangible culture.
I was introduced to the principles of heritage interpretation in the CIG and CIP courses that I went to They are like great bridges among some of my biggest interests in life – stories, tourism, people and architecture with a note of the higher and ethical principles of life and sustainability.
And that’s what I admire and like in the Interpret Europe organization. I want to be a part of this: following and searching for higher purposes in both small and large things that surround us, working on sustainability in different ways, helping to connect people and helping to spread these ideas as much as possible.
As an independent entrepreneur for almost 10 years, I have good experience in working and creating jobs in a given environment. I’m also good at finding the best solutions (financial and legal) to meet my goals. I think and hope that my life experience can help to spread the ideas of Interpret Europe in good and realistic ways throughout Croatia and beyond.
Throughout my life experience, I have gained skills supporting heritage interpretation in many different ways. I worked as a journalist for a couple of years in different newspaper companies and as a radio host. After that, my life went in the direction of tourism, where I graduated in tourism and sports management. I gained experience working in one well-known tourist center in Croatia, and I also worked as a tourist guide.
At the moment (after the last 10 years), I am working in an architectural design office where I’m a co-founder. Here we encourage green building and sustainable development, but we have also worked on some interesting projects regarding heritage interpretation.
I constantly work on my education and strongly believe in lifelong education. Learning new things and skills is something that gives me the most pleasure.
I’m looking forward to our new projects and research about heritage interpretation with my team and members.

I graduated in environmental science at Charles University in Prague. During my studies, I worked for an NGO focused on environmental education and developed my passion for new approaches and methods in education. I was lucky to attend several scholarships and training events abroad.

I also spent one year in educational institutions in the UK. This included Bristol Zoo, which is one of the most exciting places ever especially when playing with a lonely lemur is part of your job! That was also when my ‘interpretation journey’ begin as I was really inspired by heritage interpretation in the UK.

In my job in the Centre for Modern Education (a Czech-based educational company) I was responsible for managing educational projects with key partners and big European projects. I created e-learning, educational games, materials and exhibitions that inspired thousands of people (including the educational content for an award-winning exhibition The story of Planet Earth in the Czech National Museum).

Currently I am working partly as the local coordinator of the international Ecoschool project and as a freelancer in the field of interpretation. Despite being Czech, I do not like beer, but I love good wine and coffee (and I am very excited about Brno’s great coffee scene!).

I am very excited to be part of the IE country coordinators team as I feel there is so much work to be done in our country. As Terry Pratchett said: “People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it’s the other way around.”

I was born in Genova, Italy, in 1968 and I’m a compulsive learner. Since gaining my Natural Science degree at the University of Pavia in 1994, I have never stopped studying and acquiring new competences from garden and landscape planning and management to heritage interpretation and interpretive planning, and more recently in cultural marketing and planning.

I’ve been working mainly in promoting scientific and cultural awareness and in disseminating cultural expression in various fields. I worked first with WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and in 1999 I founded and directed an association for scientific and environmental education called Proteus. We worked with Italian and Ticino (Switzerland) public institutions to reveal the results of their scientific studies.

I’m full of ideas and highly creative, I love team work and figuring out how people who are very different can work together productively.

In 2009, I founded Studio PAN, a consultancy hub of experts that offers technical support to private and public entities, mainly historical gardens and villas. Our team consists of multidisciplinary experts whose creative work leads to a customized interpretive master planning of heritage sites, design of interpretive programmes, services and means. I’m also a trainer, probably the activity I like the most. I inspire individuals, guides, museum educators and teachers because I am intrigued with the unique qualities of each person.

I graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica in 1998 and after my studies I did various office jobs. However, the value of tourism that I discovered during my two-year experience in one tourist agency inspired my efforts to continue my tourism story.

From 2011 to 2016, I was engaged as a Project Coordinator on numerous projects in the tourism industry. The results of these successfully-accomplished, cross-border projects are regional thematic trails and new tourism products such as the Via Dinarica, Shkoder / Skadar Lake Ethno-gastronomic Route and Honey Routes through Durmitor and Herzegovina. These activities were funded by the European Union within the IPA CBC Programmes.

Then, as a tourism development expert, I was engaged by several NGOs, local and national authorities, to develop the feasibility studies and strategies of some national and cross-border destinations – the Cijevna River (2014), Šasko Lake (2015) and the regional initiative Tur.Grate2 (2014). In addition, I was a member of the expert team engaged in the action to develop the projects of setting up thematic trails in national parks in Montenegro (2015).

I am now working as a hiking guide licensed by the Montenegrin Mountaineering Association. Through creating and leading hiking tours, I present my country – its nature, people, their lifestyle, gastronomy, products, history, culture and tradition. At the same time, I support local people to earn from tourism as well as from agriculture, and make sure that tourists from all over the world have a great experience. In that way I contribute to the sustainability of the projects I was engaged in.

My enthusiasm to develop an integrated approuch to heritage is the main reason for my interest in the initiatives that diversify and promote tourism products of Montenegro as well as improving regional cooperation. Having this in mind, I believe the Interpret Europe network is a force for good in giving a new dimension to the understanding of natural and cultural heritage and contributing to sustainable development.

I hold an MSci in archaeology and I am working as a heritage consultant, cultural manager, storyteller, content writer and creative director at HAEMUS. My academic journey led me to engage in enriching hands-on experiences and educational initiatives, primarily live interpretation, at the highly esteemed Archaeological Park Viminacium in Serbia. These experiences gave me invaluable insights into effective methods of interpretation management, laying the foundation for my subsequent ventures.

My background encompasses education, youth services and community engagement. I have orchestrated scientific conferences, curated exhibitions, and provided expert consultations and training in heritage management and promotion. My dedication to interpretation is evident through my publication of over 30 books and monographs aimed at bringing heritage closer to people. Through collaboration with individuals, institutions and businesses spanning multiple sectors, I work to ensure that heritage becomes universally accessible.

As a longstanding member of Interpret Europe, and now serving as a country coordinator, I am eager to contribute to the organization’s goals and accomplishments. I’m dedicated to empowering the network and inspiring people to breathe new life into heritage, securing its sustainable future.

My educational background is in Human Ecology and Education, specialising in sustainable development and regional parks. I hold Master’s degrees from Lund University in Sweden and Florida State University in the United States. At present I am attached to the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

Intending to research the emerging regional parks in Norway ten years ago, I instead became active in the regional parks movement. Since then I have been involved in establishing the Norwegian Parks Association and am now the Secretariat Director for this small but growing organisation. I am also building links between regional-nature parks in the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe.

I became interested in heritage interpretation through planning work in the Nćrøyfjord World Heritage Park on the west coast of Norway. I am especially interested in how heritage interpretation can be used in parks and protected areas to connect people with place and to create good visitor experiences.

In 2016 I participated in Interpret Europe`s CIG course and the CIG trainer course. I am looking forward to increasing the interest for interpretation in Norway and the Nordic countries.  With Swedish partners, I am organising the first Scandinavian CIG course and launching a project on forest interpretation.

I live in Warsaw and work for the Józef Piłsudski Museum  in Sulejówek as Head of Education as well as Director’s Representative for innovative projects. I am an art historian (I graduated from the University of Warsaw), an educator and a museum professional with 20 years’ experience.

My adventure with heritage interpretation began thanks to my dad, who would take me on rambles through museums, towns, mountains, lakes and rivers when I was a child. No matter if it was an old village church or a post-glacial valley in the Tatra Mountains, he could talk about them in such a way that the world became a fascinating book, full of extraordinary stories.

Years later, as an adult and an educator, I was lucky to take part in an interpretation workshop in 2011 and to meet friends from the Malopolski Institute of Culture in Cracow. I became fascinated by Freeman Tilden’s ideas, which years later let me acquire my CIP and CIG certificates. In 2022 and 2023, I applied and was accepted for Erasmus+ funds and coordinated the project which allowed 30 of my museum colleagues to take part in CIG and CIW courses in Croatia.

Throughout my life, I have had a constant need to keep learning. It has led me to complete post-graduate studies in the field of cultural heritage protection at the Warsaw University of Technology and – in the pandemic year 2020-21 – the Women’s Leadership Academy LiderShe at the Kozminski University. As a scholarship holder from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, I have created a biographical website of the Polish painter Maria Ewa Łunkiewicz-Rogoyska (www.mewalunkiewicz.pl). I enjoy sharing my knowledge and passion as a lecturer in postgraduate museum studies at the University of Warsaw. I am also a proud member of the Association of Museum Educators in Poland and trainer of Echocast, a practice-oriented training program for customer service in heritage institutions.

Privately, I am an engineer’s wife and mum to three wonderful kids. In our free time we like to explore the world together by bike, ski, kayak, sailboat or on foot. I really enjoy swimming in wild waters, getting lost in the woods, lying in the grass and looking up at the sky; at least when I’m not walking through museums…

I consider heritage interpretation as a ground with many entrances. Each of us has a different path and the circumstances in which we first arrived there are quite diverse. I faced heritage interpretation more than 20 years ago when I was searching for the best way to include an educational component in ecotourism. I realised that heritage interpretation is the way we can educate tourists and provide them with a deeper connection with the places they visit.

In 2000, I began teaching on the degree in ecotourism, and in 2003 I proposed setting up an optional subject about interpretation, being the first in Portugal. In 2008 I was part of the establishment of Interpretare, the Portuguese heritage interpretation association. I completed my doctoral thesis on the educational component of ecotourism in 2017 and in 2020 I participated in the creation of CLIP, the heritage interpretation network of Portuguese-speaking countries.

Currently, and from the Central region of Portugal where I live, I work as a freelance trainer and consultant in heritage interpretation, ecotourism and sustainable tourism, and have participated in several national and international projects.

I found in Interpret Europe a conceptual model of heritage interpretation quite modern, very practical, and able to furnish heritage interpretation to more and more people. I am currently an IE trainer for the Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) course and it is my aim to participate on this essential task of encouraging more individuals and organisations to use heritage interpretation in my country.

Being born in a mountain resort that also has a great concentration of listed historical monuments, I have always been fascinated by both nature and historical buildings. Thus, during my architecture studies, I have developed a special interest in initiating change for the sustainable preservation and restoration of the existing historical stock.

After taking up my professional activity, I set up AICI Architecture Studio in 2015. Our aim is to cooperate with Romanian, along with other European, organisations and institutions so as to reactivate and preserve cultural heritage.

Since 2017, I have managed cultural projects and participated in courses and volunteering events in Romania and abroad. Being convinced of the importance of heritage interpretation and the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach, and using new tools to promote a larger context for all heritage, I have started working on my PhD thesis in Cultural Studies (University of Bucharest) and Analysis and Management of Cultural Heritage (IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca).

After taking part in Interpret Europe’s CIP, I took my interests one step further and organised the first IE conference in Romania, as an attempt to establish heritage interpretation better at a national level. The event succeeded in connecting people, empowering them to learn from each other and show best practices in interpretation. It also meant a greater challenge in provoking people’s interest in restoring the most precious traditions and values in people’s hearts.

I am an art historian and work as a senior consultant researcher at the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia in Belgrade, at the Department for Research, Protection and Documentation.As I am always interested in the interpretation of cultural heritage, I am trying to introduce interpretive practices within the framework of the institutional system. In addition, I am finishing my PhD thesis at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Department of Art History, at the Seminar for Museology and Heritage studies. I will mention some fields of my scientific interest: history of architecture in Serbia between the two wars, conservation of cultural heritage, interpretive methodologies and concepts, memory studies and history of private life. Since 2011, I have been a member of the Society of Conservators of Serbia and also of ICOMOS from 2018.

Through my involvement with IE, I would like to connect places and events from the past with people’s feelings today. My country has a rich historical past which is reflected in a colourful mix of nations, cultures, languages, religions and customs. However, it is not always presented in a modern way. Travelling around Europe and being introduced to different historical treasures, it would mean a lot to me to inspire and transmit a love for protecting heritage, keeping in mind generations to come.

In addition to my professional involvement, I am also a passionate collector of antique pill and snuff boxes and art deco figurines.

I’m an Assistant Professor at the State Ecological Academy of Postgraduate Education and Management in Ukraine. I specialise in adult environmental education and protected area management and promote ideas and principles of heritage interpretation and sustainable development in Ukraine.

I hold a PhD degree in Biology, MSc degree in protected area management (Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt, Austria), and also graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine). I have been a scientific expert in the UNDP/GEF Project “Strengthening Governance and Financial Sustainability of the National Protected Area System in Ukraine” (2008-2011).

My involvement in heritage interpretation started in 2012 with activities related to conservation biology and nature interpretation within the framework of the MATRA/MAVA Project “Building capacity for biodiversity conservation in Ukraine: network and training support” of the Ukrainian Environmental Club “Green Wave”.

In 2016, I participated in Interpret Europe`s Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) course and the CIG trainer course. In partnership with the US Forest Service and the National Association for Interpretation (NAI), I have coordinated a project on nature interpretation and organised the first CIG course in Ukraine. My current interests also include arranging engaging heritage interpretation to facilitate pleasant and valuable visitor experiences.