Climate change may prove the ultimate challenge for interpreters. It may be one part technology and two parts beliefs and perceptions, squarely within the communication realm of heritage interpretation. Yet climate change stretches its tentacles, not just in our physical, scientifically measurable world, but throughout the abstract, subtle, philosophical, and spiritual dimensions into which many people do not or cannot peer. Consequently, all people see only parts of climate change and some deny its existence altogether. But those who see very little or those who enjoy a deeper and broader understanding are not randomly selected, rather they distribute across worldviews; as those who inhabit different worldviews construct reality — climate change in particular — very differently.

As interpretation guru Sam Ham says, “The audience is everything.” Every professional communicator, interpreters without exception, then, must thoroughly comprehend their audience in order to make their interpretation relevant, to mobilise audience values, unlock their stories, and ultimately meet them where they are. Interpreters, however, cannot do this successfully if they are unaware of worldviews, including their own, and how people who hold these worldviews construct reality. In this webinar, we will explore how and why it is so important for interpreters to understand worldviews for all interpretation and how this understanding can greatly improve their effectiveness in interpreting climate change at a time when perhaps no other problem for civilisation looms so large.

For background, see Jon´s article, “Have you ever played catch with a hyperobject?” in the Autumn issue of Interpret Europe´s newsletter. For a more technical version, see Yale Climate Connections.

Jon Kohl is the founding director of the PUP Global Heritage Consortium, an international non-profit that applies a holistic focus to heritage management and conservation. Jon is also an interpretation trainer, planner, and freelance writer with two published books on interpretation. His writing increasingly deals with global and climate change from a holistic-integral perspective. See his publications at ResearchGate.

In the end, its annual gathering was a very real event, generally applauded for its success in making best use of available technology as well as for its content.

AHI chose the Hopin platform, which is devised for the conference market and is more adaptable and effective than Zoom. It allowed delegates to visit Reception for information, a Help Desk for technical assistance, a Stage for keynote addresses and other plenary sessions, a Sessions area that acted as a series of break-out rooms, an Expo Booth area (live and recorded) for promotional purposes and a Networking function. During sessions, delegates could use the Chat function. Hopin worked well once we got the hang of it – which didn’t take long.

The conference was split into two parts. We quickly mastered the techy bits and were treated to three themed sessions, six keynote presentations in all, on the first day and a half (part one) and had a chance to revisit the themes two weeks later, with delegates invited to submit their own videos for discussion. This pioneering arrangement proved successful and allowed us in part two to enjoy several short video responses to the keynote speakers. The themes were partly driven by Covid-19 and partly by the furore over Black Lives Matter which, like the pandemic, is pan-world.

Stuart Frost of the British Museum and Jane Samuels of the Natural History Museum, both in London, led on Theme 1 – Covid-19, Challenges and opportunities for interpretation. Stuart explained that digital platforms and social media maintained public contact while they faced the complexities of opening a museum of many floors and galleries with one-way routes, new signage and staff training. Alongside this was the challenge of re-interpreting collections relating to Britain’s colonial past.

Jane’s talk focussed on the progress of her museum’s programmes for diversity and inclusion which are core values of its vision that both people and the planet should thrive. Like Stuart, she emphasised the impact on funding because of Covid-19 restrictions on visitors and the substantial absence of overseas visitors. The impact of Brexit was also of concern.

Theme 2 – Black Lives Matter and the response by heritage interpreters – brought to the stage Finn White and Kofo Ajala of the Bristol Black History Project. Finn described the importance of relating the great range of stories about the city’s black community to the community itself and to the wider public, and how they had used a panel of local experts and story writers to bring the project alive.

Kofo’s vivacious, spontaneous description of her involvement as a young person on the steering group demonstrated, she said, that everyone can have a voice in changing conventional directions of museums which are often a product of a colonial past. That she felt her voice and opinions would not usually be sought showed how many museums are ‘institutionally white’; she acknowledged that her voice was heard only because it was wanted for this project. In working towards a more inclusive society, interpretation can play a seminal role.

Paula Larsson and Olivia Durand, the two PhD students who conceived Uncomfortable Oxford, told us why they set up walking tours of the university city to challenge and expose racial inequality, gender and class discrimination and the legacies of empire. They have found ready audiences for their unconventional and imaginative exploration of Oxford and, during lockdown, developed a way of delivering the walking tours virtually.

James Harding-Morris and Fiona Groves addressed Theme 3 – New-found engagement with the natural world during Covid-19. James leads Back from the Brink, a collaborative project that aims to save England’s most threatened species from extinction through engaging and connecting people with nature. His talk will be remembered for the stunning photographs of insects, plants and animals, which have been made freely available for anyone to use for educational purposes.

Fiona Groves of the UK Wildlife Trusts rounded off this theme by discussing the challenges and opportunities of engaging the wider community with nature during the pandemic. Accessing wildlife-rich places not only develops care for the natural world but benefits physical and mental health, working for people of all ages and backgrounds.

Listening to the key speakers sparked off valuable ‘chat’ contributions to the debates (as they did during IE’s conference) and added to the value of each topical discussion. Delegates could also chat directly to others online and arrange individual video chats.

The follow-up day two weeks later brought a collection of short, personal videos that reflected the themes that formed the core of the conference. Perhaps the most thought-provoking was Marina Hauer’s presentation that asked us to look beyond ourselves and question our ethos ‘and collective blind-spots, to tell better, truer and more inclusive stories’.

A further benefit for AHI was that the Hopin platform allowed poll voting at AHI’s annual general meeting and collected data on attendance, use of the chat facility and visits to, and follow-ups from, the Expo Booths.

Evaluation forms are still being assessed but the immediate response during the wrap-up sessions indicated a high level of approval for the Hopin platform, Kev Theaker’s design of the programme and the ensuing debates and Astrid Krumins’ cheerful management of the whole conference.

The conference fee was kept as low as possible, at £50 for AHI members and £65 for non-members.

Michael Hamish Glen is an experienced wordsmith, based in Scotland, and formerly ran Touchstone Heritage Management Consultants. He creates effective and thought-provoking words to interpret natural and cultural heritage. Michael helped to found AHI in 1975 and is also a founding member of Interpret Europe. He can be contacted at: michael.hamish.glen@mhg.scot. 

To cite this article:
Hamish Glen, Michael (2020) ‘Reignite: AHI offers new sparks for interpretation in a tough year’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 4-2020, 29-30.

Available online: http://www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/IE_newsletter_2020_4_winter.pdf

EHD 2020 celebrated ‘Heritage and Education: Learning for Life!‘ and that was also a theme of our online event that focused on learning through heritage interpretation.

The event that was designed to take place in a craft centre in Veržej was, like many others, moved online. Regardless of the current situation, we wanted to keep tradition alive with organising events that are open to the general public and celebrate heritage interpretation.

Keeping the well-known format of short workshops and inviting speakers that work in the heritage field again proved a winning format.

IE trainer Janja Sivec led two 90-minute taster workshops that gave an insight into the IE training programme. She presented the Certified Interpretive Guide course and invited participants to think about their local heritage and what makes a good host.

In the second part of the event, more than 30 participants listened to five presentations that all had one thing in common: Learning for Life!

The speakers covered topics like pedagogical programmes in archives, how you can take a walk with bees in Ljubljana, learning about myths in landscape, how children can learn from geology and what can we all learn from fairy tales.

Learning from each other and exchanging ideas is always the main spark of the events we organise and even online we kept it alive.

The event closed with a special moment when, after almost three years in the role of Country Coordinator for Slovenia, Janja Sivec closed that chapter and opened a new one, becoming the IE Social Media Coordinator.

Janja Sivec is an IE trainer and is the IE Social Media Coordinator. She runs www.dlegende.com.You can reach her at: janja.sivec@interpret-europe.net. 

To cite this article:
Sivec, Janja (2020) ‘Knowledge – Respect – Stewardship: How to keep the spark alive online’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 4-2020, 22.

Available online: http://www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/IE_newsletter_2020_4_winter.pdf

In an article that I wrote for this newsletter more than two years ago with Silvija Jacić, my dear co-traveller on the path of personal and professional growth in the field of heritage interpretation, we pointed to the promising tourism development based on heritage interpretation in the Croatian town of Bakar.

Since then, between all of the achievements and steps towards further development, Bakar Tourist Board lead by its manager Sonja Jelušić Marić organised two Interpret Europe Certified Interpretive Guide courses, numerous interpretive walks and activities. Even this summer, when most of the destination management organisations found it impossible to deal with the Covid-19-related challenges, Bakar Tourist Board smoothly responded to the situation by turning its major traditional summer event into a set of interpretive walks and a few other cosy small-scale activities.

It would take us a few pages to list and briefly describe all of the interpretive and educational projects that the Bakar Tourist Board conducted over the past few years. One thing is for sure: This strange year brought Bakar’s efforts in heritage tourism into focus and Bakar Tourist Board recently received the Golden Interstas 2020 award for excellence in tourism. The International Commission of Tourist Journalists recognised Bakar Tourist Board’s efforts for its creative professional achievements in the presentation of the richness of its traditional values and culture despite the pandemic.

Bakar is not alone when it comes to recognition of excellence that has roots in a destination management’s confidence in heritage interpretation as a tool for better tourism. The tourist board of Ližnjan County in the Croatian region of Istria already received the Simply the Best award back in 2019 for the project Legends of Šišan. The Association of Croatian Travel Agencies and Way To Go magazine awarded the tourism board for its creative approach to education for heritage interpreters, used for creation of themed tours that significantly contributed to the tourism offer of the destination.

Indeed, Ližnjan County tourism board with its manager Natali Palko Zirdum has always been determined to include its incredible heritage in its tourism offer. This was also the first tourism board in the region of Istria to organise Interpret Europe’s CIG training and the first time that a tourism board manager took part in the training together with its stakeholders, which was one of its many steps towards a creative community and wonderful interpretive projects.

I will end this article with the similar words Silvija and I used in the article from two years ago: we only hope that the tourist boards of Bakar and Ližnjan will remain on this path and continue setting an inspiring example for many destinations on the rise. It will be interesting to follow the further development of Bakar and Ližnjan County as tourist destinations in the years to come. We should add to this count many other Croatian ‘interpretive tourism hubs’, such as Vrsar in Istria or the continental region of Central Podravina, and we would love to know if there are similar cases elsewhere in Europe where destination management and heritage interpretation go hand in hand – please, share your examples.

It will be interesting to observe whether heritage interpretation can really make a difference in the regenerative tourism to come. Who knows? Destinations like Ližnjan County or Bakar might be the beacons to lead the way.

Iva Silla is the author of Secret Zagreb tours (www.secret-zagreb.com) and the brand new Croatia Underrated podcast (www.croatiaunderrated.com). She is an experienced Interpret Europe CIG trainer. Contact her at: iva@secret-zagreb.com.

To cite this article: Silla, Iva (2020) ‘From interpretation to recognised excellence‘. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 4-2020, 20.

Available online: http://www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/IE_newsletter_2020_4_winter.pdf​​​​​​​

The Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG) training was held for the second time this year in Zaprešić, in the Novi Dvori castle of the governor Jelačić. The course was organised by the Tourist Board of the City of Zaprešić. The course usually lasts five days but the tourist board provided an additional day of training dedicated to communication skills and public speaking.

Attendees learn from each other
Building on their previous work from various interactive tasks and detailed exercises, the participants gradually revealed the meaning in their final interpretive talks and showed the difference between great interpretation and what a presentation or tourist guide looks like when they use only facts. Everyone designed a gift to give to the other attendees, although it was neither an instruction nor an obligation. They put a lot of effort into the visual presentation and included all of our senses. Precisely because of the diverse society and numerous group tasks, the participants learned a lot from each other.

As a Chinese proverb says: “Teachers open the door, but you have to enter on your own”.
I believe that these participants entered the methodology and understood the importance of heritage interpretation and preservation, how they can use various techniques to increase the interest and involve visitors and provide them with leadership experience and arouse emotions to find a deeper meaning. The spark of interpretation was thrown in and the fire started. And the proof of that was in the great creative and detailed presentations of intangible heritage that the participants presented on the last day of their course. We were treated to presentations on topics from the traditional housewife and woollen socks to the history of the castle, coats of arms, tiny nativity scenes and gingerbread hearts.

Looking to the future
Adrenaline, desire for certification, and the good energy created among the participants are the best incentives. After the first CIG training in Zaprešić in June this year, several participants have already experienced change in their lives, securing jobs leading interpretive walks and even working in theatre. Lifelong learning never ends and it is always a good idea to invest in yourself.

Ivana Zrilić is an IE Certified Interpretive Trainer. She is a licensed tourist guide for several Croatian regions and since February 2017 has been working as a mentor/ teacher in the Lifelong Learning of the Baltazar University in Zagreb, sharing her knowledge and more than 20 years’ experience in guiding with new generations of tour guides. You can contact her at: ivana_zrilic@yahoo.com.

To cite this article: Zrilić, Ivana (2020) ‘The second CIG course in Zaprešić‘. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 4-2020, 15.

Available online: http://www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/IE_newsletter_2020_4_winter.pdf

Recreating tourism through interpretation was the main idea when Interpret Europe co-organised the course for Certified Interpretive Guides (CIG) in Žminj, Croatia, with the local tourist board. Although a new approach for the local community, Lenka Šajina from the tourist board immediately accepted the idea and fully seized all the advantages of this cooperation. It was a real honor and pleasure to work with such an enthusiastic person, who saw this course as a possibility for the development of tourism in their local community.

The CIG course was held over two weekends in October and was attended by a dozen participants, of course, all within the measures introduced due to Covid-19.

The whole idea was totally supported by the local authorities, especially the Mayor of Žminj, Mr. Željko Plavčić, who also recognised the potential in raising the quality of human resources of the Žminj region´s guides. Also, what a change in the tourist offer, significant for the recreation of tourism and turning to guests from the region, it will bring.

In addition, in the training, we included the local community, people who still live that heritage. Thus, among other phenomena that we discovered together, one of the most interesting was a local cake, known as the Crown of Christ, with the wholehearted help of a local expert in preparing this cake – Grandma Melija. Other local people were also happy to get involved in all the activities, feeling that their heritage was becoming relevant in the way we want to actually preserve it. That way, the synergy of proactive local stakeholders and the Interpret Europe method of heritage interpretation brought added value. Fortunately, this potential value was recognised even at the very beginning, and especially during the course itself, in which the director of the Žminj Tourist Board also participated. In this way, Ms. Šajina was able to personally participate very actively in the training. In fact, she was in a dual role: both participant and organiser – which always proves to be a great foundation for successful collaboration. This shows how the local partner is truly future-oriented.

This recognition of the importance and benefits of such lifelong learning resulted in the exceptional coverage of the entire event by local and national media. Thus, we can confirm over 20 articles in newspapers, on web portals, as well as an exceptional report that was broadcast on the national central news. What great coverage! What a great cooperation!

Max Dubravko Fijačko is an IE Certified Interpretive Trainer and is the IE Gastronomic Heritage Coordinator. You can get in touch with him at: dubravko.fijacko@gmail.com.

To cite this article:
Dubravko Fijačko, Max (2020): Fruitful cooperation with local stakeholders in Žminj. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 4-2020, 13.

Available online: http://www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/IE_newsletter_2020_4_winter.pdf