Newsletter Summer 2020 www.interpret-europe.net Interpret Europe Newsletter - Summer 2020 Page 1 Contents Editorial 3 Thoughts Tourism – Time for a change? 4 IE activities Zooming from room to room – Fostering heritage communities online 5 Mini field trips 7 Scavenger hunt stories 7 Lessons learnt brochure 9 Never lose heart – Community interpretation for post-pandemic recovery 10 Western Balkans inspired interpretive community 13 New IE initiative: Recreating tourism through heritage interpretation 14 IE turns ten! 15 Send us your IE memories! 15 Training A unique course interpreting natural heritage 16 Congratulations to newly certified members 18 Upcoming courses and webinars 19 IE member activities The third time is already a tradition 20 Family heritage lives through art 21 The ABCs of cultural heritage tourism 24 New book on nature interpretation published online 26 Journey to the Beginnings 27 What’s going on elsewhere The impact of COVID-19 on museums in Europe 29 Funding 30 IE announcements Welcome to our new members 31 General Assembly 2020 31 IE conference 2021: Save the date 32 Join and support the IE teams 33 Other announcements Upcoming events 33 And finally... 34 Cover images: Banks Interpret Europe Newsletter - Spring 2020 Page 2 Editorial Dear members, In 2000, the IE network was founded, and on 14 July 2010, IE was established as an association. On The past months required a lot of adaptation from the anniversary of that date this year, our Slovenian all of us, and we hope that you found acceptable country team went to Cerklje na Gorenjskem where ways to cope with the challenges. the assembly took place exactly ten years ago. From there they facilitated a little online celebration IE’s first big challenge was to run its four-day involving old and new members. It was impressive conference online – and to get ready for this within a to see what we achieved together during those past very short time. In the end, more than 160 attendees years. from 37 countries joined, and we were surprised how well it went. Thanks to all who helped to make this We are still in a state where travelling within Europe such a successful event! You can read some reviews is not easy but we are also glad that, after three of the event later in this issue. months of abstention, the first IE training courses could take place in Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro Immediately post the web conference we published and Poland. We keep our fingers crossed that the a lessons learnt brochure for organisations who situation in all countries will soon allow us to meet found themselves in a similar situation, we also each other without limitations. published comprehensive conference proceedings, and we published a brochure with case studies from the Western Balkan region, closing our initiative, Thorsten Ludwig and Helena Vičič ‘Fostering heritage communities’. So, we really used Managing Directors that time when we were bound to our desks. Our new initiative, ‘Recreating tourism through heritage interpretation’, is also adapted to the crisis. Tourism is one of the branches that is most battered and most ambiguous for many sites. Rather soon, funding might be made available at European level to relaunch tourism in a more sustainable way, and we want to offer support in achieving this. The initiative will continue until our next conference, which will take place from 1-4 October 2021 in Sigüenza (Spain). Interpret Europe Newsletter - Summer 2020 Page 3 Thoughts traditions and cultural practices, yet at present its Tourism – Time for a change? force is not sufficiently harnessed to provide the positive, measured impacts for people and places Sandy Colvine (France) that it is capable of. This process of change must be carefully managed to not result in leakage whereby Tourism is an unusual sector of the economy negative impacts of tourism are simply transferred in that it monetises assets (forests, coastlines, from existing ‘honey pots’ to future ‘off-the-beaten- castles, historic towns) that do not belong to it. track’ destinations. We are familiar with mass tourism and the welcome We all need the discovery and fulfilment that well- democratisation of leisure enabling most sectors considered leisure experiences provide. They bring of society to aspire to, and enjoy, a holiday. us pleasure and learning. Through this, we grow as Nevertheless, this has largely been driven by human beings, as individuals and as members of economies of scale whereby destinations become society. However, in the sense of the Brundtland more financially accessible. This subsequently puts Commission, the current model adopted by the pressure on those same destinations as evidenced majority of the tourism industry is nevertheless by striking images of visitors overwhelming national exploiting heritage resources that are ultimately parks or the streets of cities such as Dubrovnik, finite to a degree that future generations may not Amsterdam or Barcelona. At the same time, a be able to meet their own needs. growing number of environmentally-focused actors in the tourism sector are bringing alternative, Indeed, this can be encapsulated in an observation sustainable tourism products to the market that made by Freeman Tilden as far back as 1975: strive to generate lasting employment, greater, considerate engagement between visitors and local “For many years, our country, and to some degree communities through immersive experiences while the entire world, has been buying physical comforts minimising environmental footprints. on a credit card with the fond hope that the creditor might forget to render the bill. Not so. Nature is a The coronavirus lockdown has sharply illustrated an lenient creditor of man, infinitely patient with his environmental reprieve from the pressure of tourism. impertinent behavior, but insistent upon the ultimate Can we imagine a new more empowering model less payment. The bill has now come in”. reliant on exploiting economies of scale to their limit and the ultimate degradation, depreciation, even We as individual interpreters and collectively as destruction of heritage assets? members of Interpret Europe can play a key role in facilitating change. This should encompass The focus is not so much on combatting high impact- inclusive meaningful, immersive visitor experiences low value tourism by taking the moral high ground that place sites, hosts and people on an equal and pointing the finger at ‘the wrong kind of tourists’, footing, promoting a shared responsibility for the but by contributing to an informed change in the conservation of heritage assets through value-based culture of leisure while empowering communities interpretation appreciable to all. This process must to be actors of their tourism destinations. The not be instructive but instead offer pathways to non- sustainable tourism sector is still modest in size but formal learning based on enjoyment and discovery, growing and is, in many cases, closely aligned to a process that we and Interpret Europe are ideally the values fostered by heritage interpretation. There equipped to facilitate. is the potential for greater partnership working here. Equally, through ongoing collaboration with The challenge is sizeable and long-term but as strategic partners, such as UNESCO and the European with other global phenomena, such as climate Heritage Alliance, organisations like Interpret Europe change, action must be taken now to ensure that continue to promote wider messages in the public heritage assets which enrich our lives and leisure are realm about the value of heritage and meaningful safeguarded both in our lifetimes and for those of engagement to foster appreciation and stewardship. future generations. Tourism is a power for good. Reducing it in some locations may help to preserve them whereas other Sandy Colvine is a member of IE’s Supervisory sites and locations need it as a matter of survival. Committee and a member of IE’s Training Team. He Tourism sustains isolated island communities, wildlife lives near Avignon in France where he runs Mistral in nature reserves and zoos, museums, artisanal Translation and Consultancy. Sandy can be contacted at: [email protected]. Interpret Europe Newsletter - Summer 2020 Page 4 IE activities Zooming from room to room – Fostering heritage communities online Various contributors Editied by Marie Banks (UK) This year’s annual conference had to take place in a rather different space to normal. How was it for you? Firstly, we should recognise the effort over the preceding year of Bettina Lehnes, the previous IE Conference Manager, and the team from SALM – the Becomming a Zoom pro (Image: Mohedano) Foundation of Haapsalu and Läänemaa Museums, who together had put in a lot of work to enable us Nuria Mohedano (Spain) to all meet in person in Estonia in May and had very I am always on the lookout for great adventures in little notice that the conference would need to be life, so I could not resist joining the iecon20 crew. cancelled. With a pandemic sweeping the world and Being part of a determined and inspiring team, and heavy hearts for everyone’s suffering and the future fulfilling my willingness to keep on learning about of our profession, the decision was taken to attempt heritage interpretation and new technologies, were something positive and move the conference online my main motivations. Full attention was required not rather than cancel altogether. For the effort it took only before, but also during and after the event. The to make this dream a reality, we should thank Nuria biggest challenge, without a doubt, was letting my Mohedano, who took on the role of conference creativity flow freely and losing the fear of leaving manager, and her team, especially Adi Kasumović, nothing ahead but creating an exciting, participative who built a bespoke web platform in just four weeks and meaningful online event. It felt like jumping for and managed all the tech complications throughout the first time into a swimming pool - I was expectant the four days to deliver a largely flawless experience.