Tvs Conference Guide

A’ Foillseachadh na h-Alba - Interpret Scotland and the Association for Heritage Interpretation

International Heritage Interpretation Conference Aviemore, Scotland 30 September to 3 October 2007

Fàilte - Welcome... … to this international interpretation conference, The Vital Spark, and welcome to the Cairngorms National Park. David Green, Chair Cairngorms National Park Authority

One of the National Park’s aims is to promote understanding and enjoyment of the area’s special qualities – interpretation clearly plays a vital role in this. We are delighted, therefore, to host this conference in the Park.

Daoine Àiteachan Sgeulachdan

People Places Stories

Fàilte - Welcome

Iùl - Guide

Iùl sgiobalta Quick guide

Fàilte do’n Alba Welcome to Scotland Bu mhath leam meallaibh ur naidheachd a thoirt do bhuidheann stiùiridh na co-labhairt is na buidhnean taic as deidh na h-oidhirpean mhòra na rinn iad a-chum gus an tachartas àrd-aigneach seo, ris a tha mi toirt mo làn-taic, a chur air doigh. Tha an tuigse agus am meas a bhios sinn a’ faireachdainn agus sinn a’ tadhail air àiteachan, coinneachadh ri daoine, agus na sgeulachdan bhios sinn toirt leinn dhachaigh, a’ toirt dhuinne brìgh de thuras taitneach fhèin. Mar as motha a tha luchd-tadhail faighinn taitneas, sann as dualtaiche a bhitheas iad innse do na càirdean aca, agus sann is motha de daoine bhitheas sinn cur fàilte air. Chan eil rìan nach eil seo math do ar n-eaconomaidh, gu sgìreil agus aig ìre nàiseanta. Sann a tha mi guidhe gach soirbheach leibh leis an co-labhairt a tha seo, agus deagh thapadh leibh is sibh togail inbhe na Gàidhealtachd leis mar a tha sibh cuir ri clar-ama tachartasan Gàidhealtachd 2007. I should like to congratulate the conference steering group and the supporting organisations on their endeavours to stage this ambitious event which has my full support. Understanding and appreciating the places we visit, the people we meet and the stories we take home form the lifeblood of a memorable tourism experience. The more our visitors enjoy themselves, the more they will tell their friends and the more folk we will welcome. That has to be good for our economy, locally and nationally. I wish you every success with the conference and thank you for helping to promote the Highlands of Scotland through your contribution to the events calendar of Highland 2007. Jim Mather, Ministear airson Iomairt, Lùths agus Turasachd, An Riaghaltas na h-Alba / Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, The Scottish Government

2

Fàilte bhlàth oirbh uile A warm welcome to you all In 2005, a group of interpretive practitioners saw a great opportunity to be part of Scotland’s Year of Highland Culture in 2007. Scotland – as does every country – has a rich and diverse heritage, and interpretation has a key role in linking this shared inheritance with our communities and our visitors. Interpret Scotland and the Association for Heritage Interpretation have worked together to deliver The Vital Spark – as a celebration of interpretation and interpreters in Scotland and beyond. But The Vital Spark would not be possible without the financial and other help of many organisations and individuals recognised on page 20. We would like to record our appreciation for all this support and effort. Our Steering Group wants to ensure that this is a truly memorable experience for you all. We hope that you will find your time in Aviemore exciting, entertaining, stimulating and, above all, an experience that reignites the spark in all of us to create lasting connections between our own, unique heritage, our fellow citizens and our visitors.

The Vital Spark takes place over four days and the programme is packed with activities including visits and walks on Sunday and Monday and site tours on Tuesday. We have a buffet supper with music on Sunday, a buffet supper followed by a puppet show on Monday and the conference dinner on Tuesday with dancing to follow. Key sections of this conference book include on the following pages: 3 4-5 6-9 10 11 12 13-14 15 16-17 18 19 20

The basics Sunday’s programme Monday’s programme Plan of the resort site Plan of conference areas Parallel sessions 1, 2 & 3 Tuesday’s programme Parallel sessions 4 & 5 Wednesday’s programme Speakers Words Our supporters

We know you will renew friendships, make new ones and establish life-long connections, because that’s what interpreters do. So all we ask is that you enjoy yourself and leave this event with a new commitment to make that special difference which interpretation brings to places and people. Our work will then be well rewarded, long after this conference, by your actions in the many countries you represent here at The Vital Spark. Bill Taylor & Dr Ruth Taylor, Joint Conference Chairs

Bill Taylor & Dr Ruth Taylor

Na bunasan - The basics

Luchd-obrach na co-labhairt

An t-Sradag Bheathail – na bunasan

Conference staff Shona MacLennan

The Vital Spark – the basics Contacts

Trip tickets

Photos wanted

If you need help, go to conference reception or ask any of the conference staff (wearing blue labels).

You’ll find tickets for site visits and walks in your badge holder. Please hand in the appropriate ticket as you board the coach or join the walk guide.

We will be producing a videomontage of delegates’ photographs – be sure to use your camera!

Resort site and conference area See the plans on pages 10 and 11. All meeting rooms are signposted with current session details.

Registration Registration, in the main resort reception area where you also check in for your hotel accommodation, is open on Sunday afternoon from 15.00 to 18.00 and each morning from 0800 to 0900.

Badges You will be given your delegate’s white badge; if you are a speaker, your badge will be orange.

Conference bags Your eco-friendly jute conference bag holds all you need for the event. You can buy another bag from conference reception as a souvenir for a friend.

Vegetarian / special meals We have included place cards to match your needs; please put them on the table at Tuesday’s dinner.

Parallel sessions As well as being listed in each day’s programme, parallel sessions are shown on pages 12 and 15.

Sign-up sheets Please use the sheets posted in the Peregrine Suite to sign up for every parallel session you want to go to, except those in the Auditorium. All other rooms have limits on their capacity.

Bulletin board Keep an eye on the bulletin board beside conference reception for late news, programme changes and personal messages. You can leave a message too.

Broadband T-mobile wireless broadband connection is available across the resort by applying online and paying by credit card. Ask resort or conference reception for details.

Banners and leaflets Take an opportunity to contact the organisations displaying banners or including leaflets in your conference bag. You’ll find them helpful.

Group meetings If you’d like to arrange a special-interest meeting, contact conference reception who will try and help.

Extra help We hope we know in advance if you need assisted access or special diets. Please ask conference reception for their help.

Smoking Smoking is not permitted in any enclosed public space, anywhere in Scotland. Drinking, on the other hand …

Bars There is a bar next to the Peregrine Suite and each hotel also has its own bar.

Fire, first aid and other safety arrangements Resort staff are fully trained to cope with all fire and other emergencies. If you need first aid or medical advice, ask at conference reception.

Checking out You must check out of your resort hotel room by 11.00 on Wednesday morning. Ask at resort or conference reception for safe storage facilities.

Conference papers We will publish conference papers on the AHI website later this year and will let you know when they are ready. Speakers will need to supply a version of their paper in Word format ready for publication, with images embedded in the document.

How good was it for you? Please complete the evaluation sheet and ‘post’ it in the box at conference reception before you leave.

Shona is our event manager, ensuring that all your needs are met and liaising with the Aviemore Highland Resort. Shona runs Solas Business Services from the village of Kyle of Lochalsh, provides a range of consultancy services and is a fluent Gaelic speaker. She is helped by Rachel Phillips.

Michael Glen Michael is Director of The Vital Spark as an adjunct to his role as Administrator of AHI, the UK’s Association for Heritage Interpretation. He is helped at the conference by Debbie Allen, Jenny Brain, Elaine Reid, John Wiewiorka and all the Steering Group. In his other life, he is Principal of long-established Touchstone Heritage Management Consultants and the jobbing wordsmith at its recentlycreated writing offshoot, QuiteWrite. He also teaches on the MSc course for the UHI Millennium Institute / Perth College.

3

Amasan - Themes

Didòmhnaich - Sunday

Didòmhnaich 30 Sultain

Interpret Scotland

Sunday 30 September

A variety of public agencies and non-profit bodies make up Interpret Scotland. It is an informal but influential group committed to heightening understanding of the importance of interpretation, raising standards, developing training and widening awareness of good interpretive initiatives throughout Scotland.

1500 – 1800: Registration in the resort reception area 1700 – 1930: Evening visits If you feel like exploring the area, there will be a number of excursions to local sites; make sure you have booked.

Adhbhar agus amasan na co-labhairt Conference purposes and themes Why are we holding this conference? Many of the reasons are set out in the words of welcome which embrace our overall motives. But we also wanted to explore specific themes as part of the wish to put interpretation on an international stage in this northern part of the United Kingdom, a country that Scots, English, Irish and Welsh share and move around in, and increasingly share with many who have chosen to settle among us. This movement of people, augmented by tourists on holiday, business or family visits, has a considerable bearing on, and can be influenced by, the four themes we chose: • • • •

The Vital Spark: interpretation as the driver for cultural regeneration Creativity and innovation: interpreting remote and fragile areas Voices in interpretation: languages, cultures and communities Authenticity and re-interpretation: traditional icons in the 21st century

But we also chose these themes because, to a great extent, they are universal. Our friends from around the world, who are speaking at The Vital Spark, will contribute to the debates on these themes from their own experience. So will everyone in the many informal conversations we are looking forward to. And so, perhaps most important of all, we want The Vital Spark to echo our sharing of life with sharing our approach to, lessons learned from, and elements still to be defined about, interpretation. It is that most intriguing, beguiling and sometimes infuriating art, skill or maybe even science that has captivated and held our intellects and imaginations.

4

A’ Foillseachadh na h-Alba

Tour of the Rothiemurchus Estate A behind-the-scenes tour of this famous Highland estate. Guided walk at Glenmore Forest Walk with a character from years gone by as she makes her way along one of the ancient drove roads and tells a tale or two along the way. Guided walk on Cairngorm mountain Join a ranger on a walk around Cairngorm mountain. This walk is strenuous and delegates should wear boots and waterproof, warm and windproof clothing. Mini John Muir Award session The John Muir Award is an award scheme focused on wild places. This could be anywhere from a mountain top to a city garden. It encourages the discovery and conservation of wild places, in a spirit of fun, adventure and exploration. Guided tour of the Highland Folk Museum This award winning attraction brings to life the domestic and working conditions of Highland people from the 1700s to the present day. Guided walk through Abernethy Forest (depart 1615) Starting at the community-run visitor centre in Nethy Bridge, delegates will walk about 6 km through the ancient pine forests of Abernethy to the RSPB osprey centre at Loch Garten (please note: no ospreys in October!) 1900 – 2100 Scottish supper in the Peregrine Suite A welcome to the conference with haggis, Robert Burns’ ‘Great Chieftan o’ the Puddin-race’ and Scotland’s national dish (vegetarian alternative available!), neeps and tatties. 2000 onwards Clarsach music from Jennifer Port and from some young local fiddlers

Bob Jones of Forestry Commission Scotland is chair of Interpret Scotland.

Association for Heritage Interpretation AHI is the UK’s membership organisation for people working in interpretation. It is committed to encouraging and promoting excellence in interpretation. AHI organises regular seminars and an annual conference, and publishes a professional Journal three times a year as well as a frequent Newsletter. Its annual Awards Scheme recognises achievement and best practice in interpretation. Dr Ruth Taylor is the current chair of the Association for Heritage Interpretation. She is Head of Education for the Royal Horticultural Society and previously worked for The National Trust as Interpretation Adviser for 13 years.

Diluain - Monday 1100 – 1230: Parallel Sessions 1 Now it’s time to choose which strand of presentations you want to follow… see also the table on page 12. 1A Tourism and interpretive technology Venue: Auditorium

Diluain 1 Dàmhair Monday 1 October 0745 - 0815: Venue: Alvie Interpret Europe meeting: for all those interested in setting up an association for interpretation in Europe 0800 – 0900: Registration in the resort reception area. 0855 – 0905: Venue: Auditorium Call to conference: a dramatic start with Pipes of Thunder 0905 – 0915: Venue: Auditorium A conference tale: Aonghas Phàdraig Caimbeul, Angus Peter Campbell, will set the scene for a conference about how we tell stories 0915 – 0920: Venue: Auditorium Ceud mile fàilte: A greeting from the Cairngorms David Green, Chair, Cairngorms National Park Authority 0920 – 0930: Venue: Auditorium Conference welcome: Bill Taylor and Dr Ruth Taylor, Conference Joint Chairs, will open the proceedings

0930 – 1000: Venue: Auditorium Keynote address: Sparking the fire of regeneration: Professor Alastair McIntosh, writer, lecturer, campaigning academic and social activist Alastair will draw on new research about the role of interpretation in community regeneration. He will look at how the role of the interpreter is a trust that, in a bygone age, might have been described as ‘sacred.’ 1000 – 1030: Venue: Auditorium Keynote address: What is the vital spark of interpretation? Well love, actually: Professor Jane James, Head of Cultural Tourism, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia Interpreters often wrestle with defining what we do, and how to know what makes good interpretation. Just what is the vital spark that makes interpretation work?

Macbeth the King, Lewis chessmen and stories from Culloden: using technology to connect visitors to our heritage Cameron Taylor, Seabridge Consultants, Chrisella Ross, Pròiseact nan Ealan (Gaelic Arts Agency) and Bronwen Robinson, Zolk Ltd An examination of how handheld technology can help tell our stories. The session will include case studies of the new directions in ICT media being trialled in the Highlands.

1B From spark to flame Venue: Strathspey 1 Transinterpret – a new venture in professionalism for European interpreters Patrick Lehnes, Interpret Europe Good practice alone is insufficient for establishing professional interpretation. Besides personal assistance for local project teams the Transinterpret project develops international standards and a quality label. Standards provide guidance, but standardisation must not constrain creativity.

Professor Alastair McIntosh BSc MBA Alastair McIntosh is Scotland's first professor of human ecology and, since its formation in 1997, has been a director and treasurer of Govan's GalGael Trust, which uses cultural regeneration to combat the consequences of poverty in one of Scotland's most hardpressed urban areas. Prior to moving to Govan in 2004, he was best known for his rural work as a founder of the Isle of Eigg Trust for Land Reform, and in the battle to prevent the proposed Harris superquarry. He is author of Soil and Soul: People versus Corporate Power and a recent poetry collection, Love and Revolution.

From spark to flame – developing expertise in local projects Florian Hunger, University of Freiburg, Germany and Sebastian Bellwald, Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland. Running interpretive projects is a big task, generally underestimated by local stakeholders. Working with about thirty local project groups revealed typical sticking points. Coaching by Transinterpret has achieved significant progress in enhancing interpretation.

1030 – 1100: Break

5

Diluain leantainn air - Monday continued 1D Writing for children (Workshop) Venue: Glenmore Can words alone still ignite the vital spark in children? Cathy Lewis, Froghopper First we’ll blow sky high the myth that today’s child can only be reached via technology (or junk food). Then we’ll look at how our interpretation can capture children’s imaginations with the simplest of methods – words.

1E New thoughts on interpretive planning Venue: Alvie

Parallel Sessions continued

Interpretation – process or product?

1C Promoting responsible access

Kevin Theaker, Scottish Agricultural College

Venue: Morlich

Interpretation is in danger of becoming a product rather than a process. Provoke, reveal, relate has become part of the consumer culture rather than enlightenment.

There is now a legal right of responsible non-motorised access to most land and inland water in Scotland. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code was developed to help landowners and recreationists to behave responsibly. These two presentations look at some of the interpretive challenges this presents. Hamish’s Highland Holiday – a puppet show about outdoor access and responsibility John Phillips and Sarah Kay, Highland Council Ranger Service Meet the Highland Council Ranger Service and be a spectator at Hamish's Highland Holiday puppet show. Be entertained with this informative show, which introduces the Scottish Outdoor Access Code as experienced by a boy from the city who is visiting his granddad on a croft. Know the Code before you go…promoting the Scottish Outdoor Access Code Eleanor MacGregor, Scottish Natural Heritage Explore a range of traditional, inventive and innovative approaches that have been used to publicise and promote the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. This workshop aims to inspire you to develop clear and positive messages about responsible access so you reveal messages in a memorable way that will have the greatest impact.

6

A toolkit for engaging communities in planning interpretation Ruth Nicholson and Suzanna Meekins, Brecon Beacons National Park An overview of the new toolkit developed by the Brecon Beacons NPA to guide communities through interpretation projects, answering their most common queries whilst containing good practice guidelines to ensure a user friendly, high quality end product that benefits the community and visitors. How vital is the spark? Kicking objectives until they squeak Nigel McDonald, Shropshire County Council Seeking to draw together the combined experiences, attitudes and practices of its participants, this presentation challenges the more common approaches to objective setting in interpretive planning.

1F Inspiring icons Venue: Strathspey 2 Interpreting the architectural legacy of Sir Basil Spence Laura Gutierrez, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland This presentation will look at the success of the Sir Basil Spence Archive Project’s outreach programme in interpreting the legacy of one of Britain’s most celebrated 20th century architects by working intimately with the communities that use his buildings.

Professor Jane James PhD Jane James is Head of Cultural Tourism at Flinders University in South Australia where she coordinates Cultural and International Tourism programs and graduate courses in Interpretation, Heritage Management and Festival and Event Design and Management. She is a South Australian Tourism Commission Board Director and Chair of the National Parks and Wildlife Council. Her recent research has developed an interpretation planning tool to integrate heritage effectively and sustainably in tourism. She is an expatriate Scot – a MacQueen before she married – who did her geology doctorate in the North West Highlands of Scotland, between Morar, Knoydart, Skye and Glenelg. She is thrilled at the opportunity that the Year of Highland Culture presents for international interpretation, and for her to ‘come home’!

Diluain leantainn air - Monday continued

Jennifer Port

Authenticity and re–interpretation: museum buildings as traditional icons in the 21st century

2B Creativity (Workshop)

Fiona Sinclair, Dundee City Council

Energising your creative interpretive abilities

Museum buildings are often perceived as traditional icons by the public for various reasons. This can influence visitors’ interpretive experiences. Applying interpretive strategies can reinvent these perceptions, thus giving museum buildings a new relevance. Informing, inspiring, engaging: sparking Scotland’s re–enlightenment Mark McLean, the National Trust for Scotland Newhailes is a 17th Century mansion house on the outskirts of Edinburgh, recently restored by the National Trust for Scotland. Using the house as an example this presentation examines how coherent and innovative heritage projects, effectively interpreted, can play a major role in enabling people actively and imaginatively to engage with a nation’s cultural past and present. 1230 – 1330: Lunch

1330 – 1500: Parallel Sessions 2

Venue: Strathspey 1

John Pastorelli, Ochre Learning, Australia A workshop in which we’ll be working with a blend of storytelling, creative thinking and interpretive techniques to energise your creative spirit, have a bit of fun and enhance your ability to create ideas.

2C Interpreting the landscape Venue: Morlich Reading the landscape – exploring Scotland's earth stories

Pipes of Thunder

Ness Kirkbride and John Gordon, Scottish Natural Heritage

A group of highly regarded musicians will combine their powerful performance skills in opening the conference with an unforgettable bang!

Scotland's earth history and landscapes are an interpreter’s treasure trove, stuffed full of crash, bang, wallop stories. We explore some interpretive approaches taken to ‘reveal’ these stories. But, reclaiming cultural interpretations of landscape is a growing theme. Led by local people, Scotland's two new European geopark's are a new opportunity. Life through time glasses – interpreting both nature and culture

Now it’s time to choose again … see also the table on page 12.

Darja Kranjc and Samo Sturm, Park Skocjan Caves, Slovenia

2A Design and interpretation

2D Environmental interpretation

Venue: Auditorium It takes two – designers and the museum at Kelvingrove

On Sunday evening, awardwinning multiinstrumentalist Jennifer will treat delegates to the haunting tones of the clarsach, the Scottish harp, with ‘playing of pristine poise, mouthwatering sweetness and sparkling vitality’ – The Scotsman, February 2003.

The interpretation of the home environment through both nature and culture explores the power of historical extensions in this case study of a project designed for young people at the Skocjan Caves in Slovenia.

Venue: Glenmore The heart of nature centres

Sue Latimer, Glasgow Museums and Esther Dugdale, Event Communications

Constantina Skanavis and Christos Giannoulis, University of the Aegean, Greece

The good relationship between client and designers is fundamental to the boldness of the Kelvingrove’s new displays - clear interpretative goals, as are a willingness from Glasgow Museums to be challenged, an imaginative approach from the designers, plenty of energy and a willingness to take risks on both sides.

An important role of environmental interpretation is to attempt to educate visitors in the informal free-choice learning settings to the complex natural resource issues of sensitive settings. Nature or interpretive centres are the hub of a park or protected area interpretive programme. The heart and soul of nature centres are its personnel.

Angus Peter Campbell Angus Peter Campbell, or Aonghas Phàdraig Caimbeul as he’s usually known, is one of the most widely respected figures of contemporary Gaelic literature. He is an author, broadcaster, columnist and actor – and, on Monday morning, a storyteller, plain and simple.

7

Diluain leantainn air - Monday continued 2F Organisational culture and interpretation Venue: Strathspey 2 Realising the potential of interpretation Genevieve Adkins, Perth College Changes in policy and practice have created new opportunities for interpretation. What are these new opportunities? What demands do they place on interpreters? What education and skills needs exist and how can these be met? This session’s speakers and the following discussion aim to explore the future of the discipline and the challenges in meeting these new demands.

2G Inspiration (Workshop) Venue: Kincraig Passionate landscapes: a workshop about inspiration Gordon MacLellan, Creeping Toad

2D Environmental interpretation continued From chimpanzees to climate change Stephen Woollard, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland Using a multi-facetted approach to interpretation, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland engages people in the natural environment at home and abroad, for example, to explore the life of chimpanzees in Uganda and the impacts of climate change globally.

The Gaelic voice – representing the heritage of the Gàidhealtachd Fiona McLean, Glasgow Caledonian University The Gàidhealtachd is the area in which, traditionally, Gaelic has been spoken. Using a case study of the Highland Folk Museum, this presentation will take the theoretical construct of the poetics of representation to examine the ways in which Gaelic language and voice is given voice here and at other sites..

8

Many people have worked for many months to organise The Vital Spark. The Steering Group, under Bill Taylor’s chairmanship, has included: Bob Jones (Vice Chair) Forestry Commission Scotland Sue Atkinson / Julie Forrest / Lorna Brown Scottish Natural Heritage James Carter

1500 – 1530: Break

Andy Ford Cairngorms National Park Authority

1530 – 1700: Parallel Sessions 3 See the table on page 12.

Paul Hibberd Forestry Commission Scotland

3A Interpretive planning (Workshop)

Aaron Lawton Association for Heritage Interpretation

Venue: Auditorium Unifying communities around heritage themes

Corrie Cheyne / John Hamilton Scottish Interpretation Network

Viola Lier Scottish Tourist Guides Association

Tim Merriman and Lisa Brochu, National Association for Interpretation, USA Interpretive planning at the community level creates an important opportunity to tie the natural and cultural assets of the community back to the central stories that make it unique. This workshop suggests ways to make this happen.

Interpreting Australia – what’s hot?

3B Interpretation and regeneration

Rachel Faggetter and Pam Enting, Australia

Venue: Strathspey 1 Interpretation – the vital ‘added value’ for regeneration?

This presentation will report on how interpretation in Australia considers the hot issues of cultural identity, interpreting culture and country, and the protocols for interpretation jointly developed by Aboriginal and Settler Australians.

Conference Steering Group

Drawing inspiration from our own experiences: a chance for participants to play with words, landscapes, feelings and thrills. This active session will encourage participants to recall our own sense of wonder and delight in the world around us.

2E Traditional voices Venue: Alvie

Am Buidheann Stiùiridh

Elaine Reid volunteer Kit Reid the National Trust for Scotland

Sarah Oswald and Carolyn Lloyd Brown, PLB Can interpretation be the driver for regeneration? We will challenge that idea by exploring the evidence of hard and soft impacts of interpretation in today’s objective-driven climate. As advocates for interpretation, we will explore its true role in regeneration.

The Vital Spark Steering Group

Diluain leantainn air - Monday continued

The State Puppet Theatre Company

Archaeology as a meeting point for multicultural regeneration

3E Unexpected, unlooked for?

Anita Synnestvedt, Göteborg University, Sweden

Venue: Alvie

This paper presents an urban archaeological excavation from Göteborg, Sweden, which raised questions of the present use of the site. The key aspects of the project highlight interpretation, cultural activities and involving the community in archaeology.

Accidental provocation – interpretation for people who aren’t expecting it

3C Interpretation and events Venue: Morlich Transforming landscapes; transforming experiences Angus Farquhar, NVA Outlining the challenges and the creative vision of NVA, an environmental arts charity that specialises in ambitious site-specific events for remote and environmentally sensitive areas. Angus will look at a highly contemporary approach to interpretation that widens public appeal without endangering fragile environments. Cultural festivals and the ‘authentic’ Teri Brewer and Betty Belanus, University of Glamorgan Cultural festivals offer special challenges in representing and interpreting the ‘authentic’ and ‘local’ for outside audiences. This paper will identify the principal issues for interpreters and suggest some solutions to the problems which arise in interpreting culture in the festival context.

3D Literally challenging Venue: Glenmore Literally challenging – interpreting Robert Burns for the 21st Century Mary Hudson, the National Trust for Scotland Mary will look at the challenges involved in interpreting literary icons such as Robert Burns for the widest possible audience in the twenty-first century. Passionate Intensity: interpreting a national icon – the Yeats exhibition at the National Library of Ireland Dr Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, National Library of Ireland, Ireland This presentation examines the ways in which the great Irish poet Yeats was interpreted, using a variety of modern and traditional media in the prize winning exhibition Yeats: Life and Work.

The Man Who Planted Trees is a magical, comical, multi-sensory adaptation of Giono’s famous novel about one man and his dog who set out to transform a barren wilderness. This production has received so many enthusiastic reviews – don’t miss it on Monday evening!

James Carter, Scotland How do we make interpretation work in places where visitors aren’t expecting it? Using examples from the Tweed Rivers Heritage Project, James Carter will look at what interpretation principles mean in an increasingly information-dense world.

The State Puppet Theatre Company

Comhlan Luadh Bhàideanach -

If we are going to save the world for future generations we need to persuade people to change their behaviour. This presentation, with case studies, will show how you can design interpretation to persuade and change behaviour.

Waulking tweed - the process of fulling, or softening, the fabric, used to be the work of a team of women. Today, the Badenoch Waulking Group presents some of the songs used to keep up the rhythm and reduce the monotony of the work.

3F Evaluating interpretation (Workshop)

Dannsa

Venue: Strathspey 2

With an enthralling combination of traditional Highland step-dancing and live music, with fiddle, pipes and Gaelic song, Dannsa are sure to provide one of the most lively and spellbinding evenings of your year on Tuesday.

Designing interpretation to persuade and change behaviour Dr Ruth Taylor, Royal Horticultural Society

Beyond the clipboard Jenny Fuchs, National Museums Scotland This workshop presents a brief overview of different types of consultation and evaluation and their benefits. A fun hands-on approach gives participants the chance to try out a variety of creative evaluation techniques for themselves.

Dannsa

1710 – 1830: A breath of air If you’d like to stretch your legs, there are short local guided walks on offer. Details will be on the bulletin board. 1710 – 1800: Venue: Auditorium Association for Heritage Interpretation AGM Members’ review of the past year and election of officers

1930 – 2100: Venue: Peregrine Suite Buffet supper Eating, drinking and meeting folk over a buffet supper 2100: Venue: Auditorium The Puppet State Theatre Company presents The Man who Planted Trees 2200: Venue: Peregrine Suite Informal storytelling, music and song

Fèis Spè Cèilidh Trailers This talented group of young musicians are making a name for themselves in the Cairngorm National Park. Expect a lively and enthusiastic call to conference on Wednesday morning!

9

Macdonald’s Aviemore Highland Resort - Site map

Accommodation 1. 4. 7. 11. 12.

10

Macdonald Highlands Hotel Woodland Lodges Macdonald Academy Hotel Macdonald Four Seasons Hotel The Aviemore Inn

Conference Facilities 5. Conference Centre • Peregrine Suite, Osprey Arena • Auditorium & Meeting Rooms 11. Grantown Suite 11. Four Seasons Suite

Restaurants 1. 5. 9. 11. 12.

Aspects Restaurant Highland Food Court Dalfaber Country Club Four Seasons Restaurant Giovanni’s

Leisure and Retail 2. 3. 6. 8. 9. 9. 10. 13.

The Leisure Arena Children’s Play Park Extensive Car Parking Aviemore Railway Station Spey Valley Golf Course Dalfaber Country Club Craigellachie Nature Reserve Brands Shopping Complex

Macdonald’s Aviemore Highland Resort - Map of rooms

Ground floor 1 2 3 4 5 6 T

Upper floor

Entrance Resort Reception The Vital Spark Reception Auditorium Entrance Autitorium Highland Food Court Toilets

P Peregrine Suite A Alvie Room M Morlich Room G Glenmore Room K Kincraig S1 Strathspey 1 S2 Strathspey 2 T Toilets

T 5

T

S2

A

K

S1

M

4 3

G

2

T

1

T 6

Ground floor

T

P

Upper floor 11

Parallel sessions, Monday 1 October Room:

1100 – 1230 Parallel Sessions

1

Auditorium 1A Tourism and interpretive technology Macbeth the King, Lewis chessmen and stories from Culloden: using technology to connect visitors to our heritage Cameron Taylor, Chrisella Ross and Bronwen Robinson

Strathspey 1 1B From spark to flame Transinterpret – a new venture in professionalism for European interpreters Patrick Lehnes From spark to flame – developing expertise in local projects Florian Hunger and Sebastian Bellwald

Morlich

Glenmore

Alvie

1C Promoting responsible access

1D Writing for children (Workshop)

1E New thoughts on interpretive planning

Hamish’s Highland Holiday – a puppet show about outdoor access and responsibility

Can words alone still ignite the vital spark in children?

Interpretation – process or product? - Kevin Theaker

Cathy Lewis

John Phillips and Sarah Kay

A toolkit for engaging communities in planning interpretation

Know the Code before you go…promoting the Scottish Outdoor Access Code

Ruth Nicholson and Suzanna Meekins How vital is the spark? Kicking objectives until they squeak

Eleanor MacGregor

Strathspey 2 1F Inspiring icons Interpreting the architectural legacy of Sir Basil Spence Laura Gutierrez Authenticity and re–interpretation: museum buildings - Fiona Sinclair Informing, inspiring, engaging: sparking Scotland’s re–enlightenment Mark McLean

Nigel McDonald

1330 – 1500

2A Design and interpretation

Parallel Sessions

It takes two – designers and the museum at Kelvingrove

2

Sue Latimer and Esther Dugdale

1530 – 1700

3A Interpretative planning (Workshop)

Parallel Sessions

Unifying communities around heritage themes

3

Energising your creative interpretive abilities

Reading the landscape – exploring Scotland's earth stories

John Pastorelli

Ness Kirkbride and John Gordon

Constantina Skanavis and Christos Giannoulis

Life through time glasses interpreting both nature and culture

From chimpanzees to climate change

Interpreting Australia – what’s hot?

Stephen Woollard

Rachel Faggetter and Pam Enting

3C Interpretation and events

3D Literally challenging

Transforming landscapes; transforming experiences

Literally challenging – interpreting Robert Burns for the 21st Century

3E Unexpected, unlooked for?

The heart of nature centres

Darja Kranjc and Samo Sturm

Tim Merriman and Lisa Brochu

3B Interpretation and regeneration Interpretation – the vital ‘added value’ for regeneration? - Sarah Oswald and Carolyn Lloyd Brown Archaeology as a meeting point for multicultural regeneration

Angus Farquhar Cultural festivals and the ‘authentic’ Teri Brewer and Betty Belanus

Mary Hudson Passionate intensity: interpreting a national icon – the Yeats exhibition at the National Library of Ireland

Dr Éilís Ní Dhuibhne

Strathspey 2

Kincraig

2F Organisational culture and interpretation

2G Inspiration (Workshop)

2E Traditional voices

2C Interpreting the landscape

Anita Synnestvedt

12

2D Environmental interpretation

2B Creativity (Workshop)

The Gaelic voice – representing the heritage of the Gàidhealtachd

New roles for interpretation

Passionate landscapes: a workshop about inspiration

Genevieve Adkins

Gordon MacLellan

Fiona McLean

Accidental provocation – interpretation for people who aren’t expecting it James Carter Designing interpretation to persuade and change behaviour Dr Ruth Taylor

Strathspey 2 3F Evaluating Interpretation (Workshop) Beyond the clipboard Jenny Fuchs

Dimairt - Tuesday 1040 – 1210: Parallel Sessions 4 Now it’s time to choose again … see also the table on page 15. 4A Places and people Venue: Auditorium Uniting people, place and story Murray Ferguson, Cairngorms National Park Authority

Dimairt 2 Dàmhair Tuesday 2 October 0745 - 0830: Venue: Alvie Interpret Europe meeting (if required) 0800 – 0900: Registration in the resort reception area. 0855 – 0905: Venue: Auditorium Call to conference: a gentle start with Comhlan Luadh Bhàideanach - Badenoch Waulking Group 0910 – 0940: Venue: Auditorium Keynote address: The power of artistry: vitality in the interpretation of fragile and remote areas Susan Strauss, storyteller and interpreter, USA. Rather than ‘art in interpretation’, we must focus on the truly effective essence of ‘the artistic’ – and understand how this essence can breath life into our work, words, movement and follow the dramatic successes of John Muir and Thomas Moran.

There are many important stories to tell about Britain’s most recently established National Park. Yet the Park Authority does not own or directly manage any sites, visitor centres or rangers. So how are these stories to be told? From interpretation to protection: is there a theoretical basis?

0940 – 1010: Venue: Auditorium Keynote address: Inherited heritage: Shonaig Macpherson, Chair of the National Trust for Scotland. The National Trust for Scotland cares for iconic heritage such as the Culloden battlefield, documents written by poet Robert Burns, and large areas of Highland landscape. But many of our ideas about their value have been inherited from previous generations. How do we make them relevant to people today? 1010 – 1040: Break

Professor Sam Ham, University of Idaho, USA Tilden cited the anonymous phrase ‘through interpretation, understanding; through understanding, appreciation; through appreciation, protection’ as one of interpretation’s highest purposes. But does the chain of events really stand up in the light of contemporary cognitive and social psychology, or is it just a nice, warm and fuzzy phrase?

4B Effective interpretation Venue: Strathspey 1 Interpretation, heritage tourism and sustainability – a case of symbiosis? Gail Vander Stoep, Michigan State University, USA Is sustainable tourism impossible without effective interpretation of a community’s or site’s stories and issues? The paper looks at the role of interpretation in sustainable community and heritage tourism planning and development, and uses examples from several countries – both effective and ‘missed opportunities’ – to illustrate major points.

Susan Strauss MA BA Susan Strauss is an internationally recognized storyteller and author of natural history themes. She has presented many keynote addresses and performances and her Passionate Facts: Storytelling Science Workshops at international congresses and leading attractions including: Monterey Bay Aquarium, International Congress of Botanical Gardens, National Geographic Society, National Gallery of Art, Oregon Symphony, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Smithsonian Natural History Museum. She has written original narratives for museum exhibits and to promote National Forest Service restoration projects and four books: Coyote Stories For Children, Wolf Stories: Myths and True Life Tales from Around the World, When Woman Became the Sea: A Costa Rican Creation Myth and The Passionate Fact: Storytelling in Natural History and Cultural Interpretation and six audio recordings. She currently teaches at Oregon State University.

Lighting a flame both in visitors’ eyes and in the local community Catherine Cayre, Cairn Interprétation, France French interpreters have defined five principles, inspired by Tilden’s principles but adapted to new contexts, to make interpretation work not only as a good product but also as a whole process involving the local community.

13

Dimairt leantainn air - Tuesday continued Parallel Sessions continued

A wondrous spark – the legacy of Rachel Carson

4C Engaging people

David Mitchell, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Venue: Morlich

Rachel Carson, one of the first interpreters of wild landscapes in America, left a significant legacy beyond her famous book Silent Spring. Today that legacy has much to offer in the communication of science with a sense of wonder.

Costumed interpretation Jackie Lee, Artemis Cultural and Educational Services This paper will examine: the varying views on costumed interpretation from the perspective of both interpretive planners and costumed interpreters, the practical issues involved in programming costumed interpretation, and visitor reaction to costumed interpretation, with reference to both the Scottish and American experience. Museum theatre and ageing populations

4E Research in interpretation (Workshop) Venue: Alvie Research in interpretation – engine driving the subject or academic indulgence? Melanie Smith and Tomas Nilsson, University of the Highlands and Islands, and Emma Carver, English Heritage What challenges face research in interpretation? This workshop will focus on three key areas: asking the 'right' questions; the accessibility and relevance of research to the profession; and maintaining the 'Vital Spark' through research.

Daina Harvey, National Museum of Australia, Australia This presentation will discuss the way in which museum theatre can stimulate older people’s memories through the use of objects and other archival material, and act to validate older people’s life experiences. This can widen the audiences for museums, and affirm older people’s role in communities. Fictitious landscapes – literature in children’s interpretation Richard Heathcote, Director, Carrick Hill and Professor Jane James, Flinders University, Australia How can heritage sites engage children’s interest using literature to provide adventure and discovery? Carrick Hill, a grand house in Adelaide, South Australia, recently established a Children’s Literary Trail resulting in a childled increase in visitors.

4D Lighting the spark Venue: Glenmore Many interpreters aim to ‘inspire’ – but do we really know how?

4F Portable technology and interpretation (Workshop) Venue: Strathspey 2 Satellites and soundbites Matthew Jones and David Masters, Imagemakers Design and Consulting, and Nigel McDonald, Shropshire County Council This workshop will explore the use of portable digital media players, mobile phones and global positioning system (GPS) devices in interpreting remote and fragile areas. Please bring your mobile phone – and have it switched on! 1215 – 1800: Visits to major sites (more information can be found on the opposite page) A choice between two afternoon site visits. One looks at interpretation in Britain’s newest National Park, the Cairngorms. Here the National Park Authority is working in partnership with local communities, businesses and other agencies to present the Park’s rich nature and culture. Or you can visit Culloden, the iconic site of the last pitched battle in Britain, where the National Trust for Scotland is developing exciting and challenging new interpretation. You can pick up a packed lunch to eat on the coach.

Susan Cross, TellTale This session draws on work examining what has inspired heritage and countryside staff, and considers what this means for creating inspirational interpretation.

14

1930 – late: Conference dinner in the Peregrine Suite A great menu of Highland fare, followed by dancing and music from modern ceilidh band Dannsa. The band aim to celebrate the rich culture and infectious energy of Scottish dance, and will help you birl and weave the night away!

Shonaig Macpherson CBE FRSE Shonaig Macpherson’s education owes much to the National Trust for Scotland. As a child, exiled to Leicestershire in England, she learned about her country’s history on holidays back home, being ‘dragooned’ around castles and battlefields by fiercely patriotic parents. In appointing a former lawyer as the first female chairman of Scotland’s biggest charity, the NTS wants to use her well-connected business mind to help win the Trust a profile to match its remit to conserve the heritage on behalf of the nation. For this former senior partner with a leading firm of solicitors, her new job extends the platform from which she can extol her vision of a selfconfident, positive-thinking Scottish economy. For her, Scotland’s heritage is about far more than the attraction of tourists. Her ultimate goal is that ‘every child in Scotland should be a member’.

Parallel sessions, Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 October Room:

Tuesday 1040 – 1210 Parallel Sessions

4

Auditorium

Strathspey 1 4B Effective interpretation

4C Engaging people

4D Lighting the spark

Interpretation, heritage tourism and sustainability – a case of symbiosis?

Costumed interpretation

Uniting people, place and story

Many interpreters aim to ‘inspire’ – but do we really know how?

Murray Ferguson

Gail Vander Stoep

From interpretation to protection: is there a theoretical basis?

Lighting a flame in visitors’ eyes and in the local community

4A Places and people

Catherine Cayre

Laura Gutierrez

Museum theatre and ageing populations - Daina Harvey

We must care for the Park – for the sake of its wildlife, countryside and the people that live in it, manage it and visit it. This is reflected in the Park’s aims for conservation, sustainable use, understanding and enjoyment and, unique to Scotland’s national parks, promoting the area’s social and economic well-being.

Wednesday

5A The profession – accreditation and federation

Parallel Sessions

5

Ways forward for interpretation

Strathspey 1 5B Storytelling (Workshop) Voice and language: stealing the storyteller's fire for broad base interpretation Susan Strauss

David Mitchell

4E Research in interpretation (Workshop) Research in interpretation – engine driving the subject or academic indulgence? Melanie Smith, Tomas Nilsson and Emma Carver

Strathspey 2 4F Portable technology and interpretation (Workshop) Satellites and soundbites Matthew Jones, David Masters and Nigel McDonald

The course of Scottish, European and world history changed at Culloden on 16 April 1746. It was here, in the last hand-to-hand battle on British soil, that the Jacobite army fought to reclaim the thrones of Scotland and England from the Hanoverians. Jacobites believed in the Catholic Stuart dynasty's right to rule - 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' was the grandson of the last crowned Stuart King. Brought up in Italy, he arrived in Scotland in 1745 to reclaim the title for his father. The British government army of George II was equally determined to stop this happening. The resulting war divided families and set clan against clan.

Cairngorms National Park

The Cairngorms National Park was designated as Scotland’s second national park in 2003 and is the largest in Britain. 16,000 people live in its 3,800 km2 of mountain, moorland, forest, wetland and farmland which are also home to 25% of Britain’s threatened species. It is a special place.

Auditorium

A wondrous spark – the legacy of Rachel Carson

Alvie

Tuesday’s site visits: Cùil Lodair - Culloden

Cairngorms National Park

Room:

Susan Cross

Fictitious landscapes – literature in children’s interpretation Richard Heathcote

Professor Sam Ham

Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh

1040 – 1210

Glenmore

Morlich

Culloden

Morlich

Since the mid-nineteenth century the battlefield has been a place of pilgrimage for people from Scotland and throughout the world. Today, with ongoing archaeological research and fresh historical interpretations, the causes and consequences of the 'Forty-Five' Rising are still hotly debated.

Glenmore

5C Fragile environments

5D Global experiences

Imagining St Kilda - Jill Harden

International interpretation – lessons from Georgia and Croatia

A clash of culture in the wilderness Sonia Frimmel Photography and re–photography to reveal meanings and relationships Pete Moore

Alvie

Strathspey 2

5E Minority languages (Workshop)

Catherine Curby

Using minority languages in heritage interpretation

Interpreting Africa

Peadar Morgan and Sue Mackenzie

Rainer Glawion and Jacqueline Passon

15

Diciadain - Wednesday 1040 – 1210: Parallel Sessions 5 Now it’s the last time to choose … see also the table on page 15. 5A The Profession – accreditation and federation Venue: Auditorium A variety of interpretation professionals will debate ways forward for the profession. Should we establish accreditation schemes, is there a need for a federation at an international level, and how might these be organised?

Diciadain 3 Dàmhair

5B Storytelling (Workshop)

Wednesday 3 October

Voice and language: stealing the storyteller's fire for broad base interpretation

0800 – 0900: Registration in the resort reception area. 0855 – 0905: Venue: Auditorium Call to conference: savour a special opening of the final day with Fèis Spè Cèilidh Trailers 0910 – 0940: Venue: Auditorium Keynote address: Living on Upoko Road: Jette Sandahl, Director Experience of Te Papa Tongarewa Museum, New Zealand. How does contemporary globalization and mass migration impact on a local and national heritage? How does heritage interpretation deal with current complex issues of ownership to land and history, heritage and cultural identity?

0940 – 1010: Venue: Auditorium Keynote address: Highlands and islands heritage: our key to a good future Professor James Hunter, University of the Highlands and Islands Centre for History Interpretation can be a key influence on a community’s sense of self worth. This is especially important in areas like the Highlands and Islands, once dismissed as hopelessly impoverished, but rich in music, architecture, literature, archaeology. 1010 – 1040: Break

Susan Strauss, USA Explore the extraordinary picture-making capacity of voice and language. Activities designed to work with: vowels' and consonants' capacity to create moods and imagery, effective word choices, enrich and project voice and find character voices.

5C Fragile environments Venue: Morlich Imagining St Kilda Jill Harden, the National Trust for Scotland The islands of St Kilda, one of only 24 World Heritage Sites designated for both their natural and cultural heritage value, lies 100 miles west of Highland Scotland. Its remote fragility both challenges and stimulates interpretation today – traditionally, virtually and artistically in music, poetry and photography. A clash of culture in the wilderness Sonia Frimmel, What’s the story?, New Zealand When nature overtakes industry, the challenge is to bring tales of historical enterprise and endeavour to life in places most visitors think of as pristine and wild.

Fèis Spè Cèilidh Trailers

16

Venue: Strathspey 1

Jette Sandahl PhD Jette Sandahl was the founding director of the new Museum of World Cultures in Sweden, creating a museum as a community meeting place, a site of empowerment and as an agent for social change. She came to museums as a founding director of the Women’s Museum in Denmark after more than a decade at the Institute of Psychology, University of Aarhus, Denmark. She served for a number of years as director of exhibitions and public programs at the National Museum of Denmark. In both her academic and her museum work she has been an advocate for issues of cultural diversity, cultural participation, and the rights to self-representation. Recent publications include Living Entities, in The Native Universe and Museums in the 21st Century. USA, 2005. National Museums Scotland have supported Jette Sandahl’s travel costs.

Diciadain - Wednesday 5E Minority languages (Workshop) Venue: Alvie Using minority languages in heritage interpretation Peadar Morgan, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, and Sue Mackenzie, the National Trust for Scotland What are the challenges and opportunities of using Gaelic and other minority languages in interpretation? How are quality and reliability ensured? This workshop is a chance to discuss the issues and share experiences. Photography and re–photography to reveal meanings and relationships Pete Moore, Scottish Natural Heritage The presentation will show how photography and re-photography provide a direct link between the present and the past, and suggest ways through which we can reveal meanings and relationships in our natural and cultural heritage.

1215 – 1300: Venue: Auditorium Closing session: Vital sparks of interpretation – a world ablaze Professor Sam Ham, international interpretation expert, will sum up his thoughts on conference 1300: Mingle and depart

5D Global Experiences Venue: Glenmore International interpretation – lessons from Georgia and Croatia

Professor Sam H Ham PhD

Catherine Curby, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, USA

Professor Sam H Ham is Director of the Centre for International Training and Outreach and Professor of communication psychology and international conservation in the University of Idaho’s Department of Conservation Social Sciences. He also Deputy Director of the Tourism Research University at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Sam’s research has focused on applying communication theory to environmental conservation, interpretation and travellers’ philanthropy, and on nature-based tourism and guide training. He is author of Environmental Interpretation and 350 other publications. Sam’s training programmes have reached more than 38,000 people in 40 countries.

Learn valuable lessons from two international projects: providing interpretive training at Lonjsko Polje Nature Park in rural Croatia; and developing trails and wayside panels at Kolkheti National Park on the Black Sea coast of Georgia. Interpreting Africa Rainer Glawion and Jacqueline Passon, University of Freiburg, Germany The presentation will focus on research for assessing the potential for interpretation in two remote and fragile areas of Africa: the World Heritage site Leptis Magna in Libya, and the Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia.

Professor James Hunter CBE PhD James Hunter is director of the UHI Centre for History, UHI being the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands. An acknowledged authority on the area, he has published eleven books on Highlands and Islands themes and has also been active in the region’s public life. He was the first director of the Scottish Crofters Union, now the Scottish Crofting Foundation and, for six years from 1998, chaired Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the north of Scotland’s development agency.

UHI Millennium Institute / Perth College has sponsored Sam Ham’s appearance at the conference.

17

Luchd-labhairt - Speakers

Prìomh luchdlabhairt

Luchd-labhairt - Speakers Genevieve Adkins, Perth College, Scotland

Jenni Fuchs, National Museums Scotland, Scotland

Betty J Belanus, Centre for Folklife and Cultural Studies, USA

Christos Giannoulis, University of Ioannina, Greece

Dr Sebastian Bellwald, Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland

Professor Rainer Glawion, University of Freiburg, Germany

Teri Brewer, University of Glamorgan, Wales Lisa Brochu, National Association for Interpretation, USA James Carter, Scotland Emma Carver, English Heritage, England Catherine Cayre, Cairn Interpretation, France Susan Cross, TellTale, England Catherine Curby, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, USA Esther Dugdale, Event Communications, England Pam Enting, Australia Rachel Faggetter, Australia Angus Farquhar, NVA, Scotland Murray Ferguson, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Scotland Sonia Frimmel, What’s the story?, New Zealand

18

John Gordon, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scotland David Green, Chair, Cairngorms National Park Authority Laura Gutierrez, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Scotland Professor Sam Ham, University of Idaho, USA Jill Harden, the National Trust for Scotland, Scotland Daina Harvey, National Museum of Australia, Australia Richard Heathcote, Carrick Hill, Australia Mary Hudson, the National Trust for Scotland, Scotland Florian Hunger, University of Freiburg, Germany Professor James Hunter, UHI Centre for History, Scotland Professor Jane James, Flinders University, Australia

Keynote Speakers Professor Sam H Ham PhD, Director, Centre for International Training Outreach, University of Idaho, Moscow ID, USA

Mathew Jones, Imagemakers Design and Consulting, England

David Masters, Imagemakers Design and Consulting, England

Sarah Kay, Highland Council Ranger Service, Scotland

Nigel McDonald, Shropshire County Council, England

Ness Kirkbride, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scotland

Professor Alastair McIntosh, Writer, lecturer, campaigning academic and social activist, Scotland

Darja Kranjc, Park Skocjan Caves, Slovenia Sue Latimer, Glasgow Museums Service, Scotland Jackie Lee, Artemis Cultural and Educational Services, Scotland Patrick Lehnes, University of Freiburg, Germany Cathy Lewis, Froghopper, England Carolyn Lloyd Brown, PLB Ltd, England Eleanor MacGregor, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scotland Sue Mackenzie, the National Trust for Scotland, Scotland Gordon MacLellan, Creeping Toad, England Shonaig Macpherson, the National Trust for Scotland, Scotland

Fiona McLean, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland Mark McLean, the National Trust for Scotland, Scotland Sue Meekins, Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, Wales Tim Merriman, National Association for Interpretation, USA David Mitchell, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland Pete Moore, Scottish Natural Heritage, Scotland Peadar Morgan, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Scotland Rosalind Newlands, World Federation of Tourist Guides Associations, Scotland

Professor James Hunter CBE PhD, Director, UHI Centre for History, Dornoch, Scotland Professor Jane James PhD, Head of Cultural Tourism, School of Humanities, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia Professor Alastair McIntosh BSc MBA, Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology, Treasurer of the Galgael Trust and Visiting Professor of Human Ecology, Department of Geography and Sociology, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland Shonaig Macpherson CBE FRSE, Chair, the National Trust for Scotland, Scotland John Pastorelli Principal, Ochre Learning, Strathfield NSW, Australia Jette Sandahl PhD, Director Experience, Te Papa Tongarewa – the Museum of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand Susan Strauss MA BA, Storyteller, Author and Professor, Bend OR, USA

Luchd-labhairt, leantainn air - Speakers, continued

Centre for Interpretation Studies

Faclan - Words

Dr Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, National Library of Ireland, Ireland

Melanie Smith, Perth College, Scotland

Ruth Nicholson, Brecon Beacons National Park Authority, Wales

Susan Strauss, Storyteller and Interpreter, USA

Tomas Nilsson, Perth College, Scotland

Samo Sturm, Park Skocjan Caves, Slovenia

Sarah Oswald, PLB Ltd, England

Anita Synnestvedt, Göteborg University, Sweden

Forestry Commission Scotland has played an important role in commissioning interpretation that incorporates Gaelic and English. The following verses form one of 19 ‘pairs’ on signal signs at Leitir Fura, an abandoned village in Kinloch Forest on Isle of Skye.

Bill Taylor, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Chair, The Vital Spark

They were ‘interpreted’ in Gaelic by Gavin Parsons of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic College, from the stanzas in English, written by Michael Hamish Glen of QuiteWrite.

Jacqueline Passon, University of Freiburg, Germany John Pastorelli, Ochre Learning, Australia John Phillips, Highland Council Ranger Service, Scotland Bronwen Robinson, Zolk Ltd, Scotland Chrisella Ross, Pròiseact nan Ealan (Gaelic Arts Agency), Scotland Jette Sandahl, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum, New Zealand Fiona Sinclair, Dundee City Council, Scotland Constantina Skanavis, University of the Aegean, Greece

Cameron Taylor, Seabridge Consultants, Scotland Dr Ruth Taylor, Royal Horticultural Society and Chair, Association for Heritage Interpretation, England Kev Theaker, Scottish Agricultural College, Scotland

Forest fashioned from the seeds of lost ice, broad-rooted on layered red stone from a distant era of hot sands

and truncated to satisfy the dead

Gail Vander Stoep, Michigan State University, USA

gods of shiphulls and bobbins

Stephen Woollard, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Scotland

Dèanta

in southern lands.

bho shiol deigh chaillte leathan-freumhaichte air clach fhillte dhearg

Genevieve Adkins was appointed in July 2007 as first Director of Perth College’s Centre for Interpretation Studies. The College, part of the University of the Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute, has been running a successful MSc in Interpretation: Management and Practice which will be one of the responsibilities on which Genevieve will now take the lead. The Centre – the first of its kind in Britain and Europe – will be a focus for helping the profession of interpretation by developing further the education, training and accreditation of existing and potential interpreters and managers, and in becoming a recognised centre for research into interpretation and related disciplines, able to grant PhD degrees to suitable post-graduates. Genevieve was Head of Interpretation for Historic Scotland for several years and before that for Historic Royal Palaces.

bho linn chian de ghainmhich theth

agus geàrrte gus diathan marbh shligean-luingeis agus bhoban a shàsachadh

an tìrean deasach.

19

Ar buidhnean taic - Our supporters We have tried, in conceiving and delivering The Vital Spark, to match up to the aims and expectations of all the organisations which subsequently provided substantial funding and support in kind to make the conference both a success and a memorable event.

Gàidhealtachd 2007 Highland 2007 Bòrd na Gàidhlig works to promote Gaelic and strives to improve the status of the language throughout Scotland.

Highland Council Scotland’s largest local authority, delivers a range of services to residents and businesses.

CairnGorm Mountain Ltd is the not-for-profit company that operates the ski resort and visitor attraction on Cairngorm

Highlands & Islands Enterprise is responsible for economic and community development across half of Scotland

Cairngorms National Park Authority promotes the conservation, sustainable use and enjoyment of the Park.

Historic Scotland safeguards the nation’s historic environment, promoting its understanding and enjoyment.

EventScotland is responsible for attracting, creating and developing sporting and cultural events throughout the country

National Museums Scotland interprets and makes accessible for all the past and present of Scotland.

Forestry Commission Scotland is responsible for taking forestry forward through the first half of the 21st century.

The National Trust for Scotland conserves, manages and presents much of Scotland’s cultural and natural heritage.

SIN Scottish Interpretation Network is an informal group of people involved in heritage interpretation in Scotland.

Scottish Natural Heritage promotes the care, enjoyment and understanding of the natural heritage of Scotland.

Scottish Tourist Guides Association is the accrediting and membership body for tourist guides in Scotland.

UHI Millennium Institute Scotland’s largest local authority, delivers a range of services to residents and businesses.

Visit Scotland is the national tourism organisation for Scotland, engaging with its partners in the industry.

Na bi fada gun tilleadh! Haste ye back! 20

The principal funder of The Vital Spark has been Highland 2007, the organisation promoting an extensive programme of events during 2007, which is being celebrated as Scotland’s Year of Highland Culture. The programme aims to promote the Highlands as a great place to live and to visit by showcasing the unique and special nature of Highland culture past, present and future. The project is a partnership between three principal funding agencies: The Highland Council, the Scottish Executive, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Associated with Highland 2007’s support has been EventScotland, the agency working to make Scotland one of the world’s leading event destinations. All photographs courtesy of VisitScotland and © scottishviewpoint.com

Designed by Andrew Howard, Forestry Commission Scotland and printed by Nevisprint, Fort William, on Revive 100 Matt recyclable paper, made from 100% post-consumer waste.