Last week, the Heritage Lottery Fund approved a grant for a project I’m planning that involves young people in the heritage of my site, and its interpretation. I am hugely excited about this. For one thing, the project is all about interpretation as facilitation, as I explained in a recent post [1]. The other aspect … Continue reading For Them and By Them: Involving Stakeholders and Communities in Interpretation
Resistance is futile, or: Interpretation and Managing Change
I attended a course today on coaching people through change. There were several suggestions and tools, which I found particularly useful, and which gave me some food for thought for interpretation also: 1. What makes a good coach? There are a few principles for a good coach, and it struck me that many of … Continue reading Resistance is futile, or: Interpretation and Managing Change
Target audiences and access in interpretation practice: Emma Waterton’s critique
I’ve recently read Emma Waterton’s excellent book Politics, Policy and the Discourses of Heritage in Britain. Waterton is not an interpreter, but much of her writing applies directly to interpretation also. As in her other writings, Waterton raises excellent and critical questions in this book. Some of these are of immediate relevance to interpreters: … Continue reading Target audiences and access in interpretation practice: Emma Waterton’s critique
Interpretation is… a facilitated process
I have just recently submitted an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a project primarily (but not exclusively) aimed at young people at my current site. Last week, HLF asked me to clarify how creating a young people’s area in our historic park was intended to help young people to understand the heritage of … Continue reading Interpretation is… a facilitated process
And this is what I mean by heritage, and interpretation (at my current site)
Last week, I had one of those exciting conversations with a colleague, which reminded me of why I’m doing what I’m doing. This particular colleague doesn’t have a background in heritage, and I was trying to explain to them what I wanted our interpretation to achieve at our site. In fact, so removed is their … Continue reading And this is what I mean by heritage, and interpretation (at my current site)
What makes interpretation effective?
Let me start with a disclaimer: I’m not actually going to tell you what makes interpretation effective. Rather, I would like to propose that we rethink some of the measures we use for determining ‘effectiveness’. Take for example an article by Henker and Brown that was published in the Journal for Interpretation Research earlier this … Continue reading What makes interpretation effective?
What is the future of interpretation?
Someone recently asked me what the future of interpretation was in my opinion. This seemed an appropriate question to ponder as the calendar year draws to a close. So here are my thoughts on the future of interpretation (and also: the interpretation of the future): 1) The interpretation of the (immediate) future will be resource-aware … Continue reading What is the future of interpretation?
I Know Where I’m Going: The conference, and a few thoughts of my own
I spent today and yesterday at the ‘I Know Where I’m Going’ Conference in Edinburgh. The conference was about remote access, with a focus on World Heritage Sites (it was part-organised by UK UNESCO). That may sound like the conference was all about technology, and we did indeed hear a great deal about the many … Continue reading I Know Where I’m Going: The conference, and a few thoughts of my own
We are all indigenous (when it comes to our heritage)
I’ve been doing some more reading recently about indigenous communities and heritage management especially in the United States, Canada and Australia. My own research is about delivering public benefit through heritage management and interpretation using England and Germany as case studies. However, the writings about management of indigenous heritage are really useful in this. They … Continue reading We are all indigenous (when it comes to our heritage)
Target audiences in interpretation
In a recent conversation, an interpretation colleague asked me how I addressed target audiences in my interpretive practice. They didn’t elaborate; it was quite obvious that they considered target audiences to be such an obvious part of interpretation that no further qualification of the concept was required. Something about this unquestioned assertion sat uncomfortably with … Continue reading Target audiences in interpretation
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