The Norwegian Parks Association is investing in interpretation to not only promote its regional parks to domestic and foreign visitors but also to celebrate local heritage and culture in a more meaningful way that simple commercial products or services to sell.
That’s why it invited Sandy Colvine to teach an Interpret Europe certified interpretive guiding course to an enthusiastic bunch of Norwegian park rangers plus participants from the Swedish Centre for Nature Interpretation and Italy.
The participants were motivated by learning new communication techniques to immediately use in their jobs to make their heritage more personal and relatable to visitors rather than just stating facts and figures. As such, the training focused on how to relate to people’s heads, hands and hearts for more meaningful connections with heritage by showing how it connects to their world.
It sounds odd but when you connect properly with your surroundings, it starts to mean something to you. You understand it better and you care about it more in your own way BUT no tells you you must do it! That’s the secret of interpretation!