Subject coordinators

I am Cristina Toma, born and raised in Bucharest, Romania, currently doing a PhD in geoconservation; to be specific, interpretation of geological heritage. Since 2015, I have worked in the Geopark field, first in the Buzau Land Aspiring Geopark as an interpreter, local community facilitator, sustainable development specialist and more – as it usually happens in the geoparks world. In addition, the case study for my PhD is related to the Buzau Land Aspiring Geopark. However, my first love was the Hateg UNESCO Global Geopark which inspired my dissertation paper in 2015, about the interpretation of natural and cultural heritage of an ‘industrial park’ from 100 years ago. Currently, I am working for the Hateg UNESCO Global Geopark and teaching a course on Sustainable Development in Geoparks within the geoconservation master’s programme at the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Bucharest. I am the secretary of the Geological Society of Romania, Bucharest Branch and the secretary of the Romanian Geoparks Forum.

I have been immersed in nature all of my life: I was born to nature-loving parents and made my first steps in the hills and mountains of Croatia, expressing joy and fascination with the wonderful world that surrounded me. In the city, my natural oasis was the Zagreb Botanical Garden, where Grandma worked as managing director. She was a botanist who knew everything about plants and Grandpa was a landscape architect born to be a storyteller. Their home was in a romantic cottage inside the garden gates. Owning the key to those gates felt like being privileged to enter a magical portal where the world of nature and the world of humans met in harmony. That was the emotion that led me to choosing landscape architecture as my major at the Faculty of Agronomy. I also got a degree in Portuguese language and literature, probably answering to Grandpa’s storytelling gene. But botany remained my first love and, as I grew older, my garden expanded to the vast mountains and plains, rocks and caves, rivers and seas … And so, I found myself ‘translating’ the language of trees and rocks, rather than that of Portuguese writers. Only years later I learned that it was called interpretation: natural heritage interpretation.

As a nature guide, I started interpreting natural heritage in 2004, gradually broadening my views and scope of work through education and experience. Over the years, I’ve been working as a freelance expert on various heritage interpretation projects, collaborating with national and nature parks and the Croatian National Tourist Board, as well as regional and local tourist boards. In 2019, my passion for interpretation and learning led me to the Interpret Europe CIG training course, and I was immediately hooked. The IE approach to heritage interpretation has perfectly resonated with my personal intuition and I decided to start my own company dedicated to heritage interpretation.

I strongly believe that heritage interpretation can be a powerful tool for nature protection and for re-creating a world where humans and nature can live in harmony.

I am an archaeologist, research scientist, cultural manager and heritage consultant and have worked abroad for many years. After I finished my archaeology and art history studies at the University in Skopje, I obtained my Ms. Sci. at the University of Belgrade. My area of expertise is prehistory and I write, and publish, scientific and popular articles on heritage issues. I also participate in public debates and symposiums, giving professional consulting and heritage training to institutional, private and non-governmental sectors.

I had considerable experience in the interpretation and creative industry sector as a content creator, project and team manager even before I founded HAEMUS, the Center for Scientific Research and Promotion of Culture based in Skopje, North Macedonia, where I work as a creative director and project manager. Heritage interpretation and tourism have been a large part of my life since my university days. I love to travel and to experience places so, while I was studying at the University in Skopje, I obtained a professional licence for tourist guiding. I applied some of the main principles of interpretation to the heritage tours I have created many years before I was professionally introduced to Interpret Europe. Joining the IE crew, you could say that I finally found the roots that feel like home.

For me, interpretation is about storytelling and personal feelings, the way we remember things, irrespective of the official facts. My personal perception of interpretation, along with my vast experience and parallel working in both heritage academic circles and in heritage tourism, gave me a deep insight and helped me to establish several long-term sustainable projects such as: Scupini Romani, Grandma March Day (HAEMUS is safeguarding this tradition inscribed by UNESCO on WHL), Educative Skopje tours and last but not least, HAEMUS Travel, a social enterprise which is a creative tourist brand of HAEMUS that inspires the community through experience excursions led by heritage professionals in order to take care properly of our common heritage.

I first became aware of heritage interpretation while running an explorers’ club for my eight-year-old son and his classmates in 2012-13. In retrospect, I can see that our excursions were just as much about me trying to put down roots and find connections in my new home-land, Berlin and Brandenburg – so different from Kenya and Scotland where I grew up.

I have a degree in three-dimensional design and another in landscape architecture. Since graduating in 1998, I have been working as a landscape architect in Berlin. After attending three or four Interpret Europe conference as an interested outsider, I began to see ways in which the philosophy of heritage interpretation could be applied to my work. In some respects, it was already there, but the overriding feeling was, and is, of lots of untapped potential. It is also challenging trying to introduce interpretation into a field where many clients have heard little or nothing about it. So, there is work to be done, both internally and externally, and I am happy to be teaming up with others who feel a similar enthusiasm for bringing architecture and interpretation closer together.

Appetizer
From an early age (born and raised in Croatia), I considered myself a real Foodie. As far back as I can remember, the first flavours and first dishes, I have always liked to explore new food but also traditional recipes. My grandma was a chef and that had a really big influence on me. Plus, my father is a wine producer… Today, I strongly believe that food is much more than just the necessary nutrients. Food is, perhaps, the most universal element of our shared humanity.

Soup
I have been a tour manager and tour guide in my own travel agency for the last ten years. I love to share with all guests my fascination with food heritage, new flavours, practical experience in preparing homemade food and my enthusiasm. Prior to that, I used to work as a radio host and in the field of creative marketing (in the creation of videos and slogans) at several marketing agencies. I hope all these experiences have shaped me in a way that the right ingredients can make a delicious soup.

Main course
A few years ago, I discovered Interpret Europe’s approach to heritage interpretation. Wow! That really made a difference! I completed the Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) course and then the IE course for Certified Interpretive Trainers (CIT). I have always understood tourism as a kind of ‘industry of experience’. Now, all my knowledge, special education (like WSET, 1st level diploma) and experience in enogastronomy have been taken to a higher level with deeper meanings. My enthusiasm is even greater now!

Dessert
The story of food, in so many words, is the story of us. Interestingly; food is the only intangible and (at the same time) tangible heritage with which we communicate on a daily basis. It is one of the few things on Earth that one can connect with from any angle, from any background and at any level of experience.
I look forward to working with the Gastronomic Heritage Team to develop interpretive methods, exercises and approaches to the interpretation of food.

“With good friends…and good food on the board … we may well ask, When shall we live if not now?” – M F K Fisher, The Art of Eating