THING Project Summary overview September 2010

Project partners County of Sogn og Fjordane Norway – lead partner Thingvellir National Park Iceland Orkney College Orkney Manx National Heritage Isle of Man Highland Council Dingwall Kunningarstovan The Faroe Island Gulatinget Gulen Municipality Norway Shetland Amenity Trust Shetland

Norway Gulating

Iceland Thingvellir Photo: Einar S Sæmundsen

The Faroe Islands Tinganes Photo: ppt by Barbara Crawford

Shetland Tingwall Photo: Lynda Mallett

Orkney Tingwall

Isle of Man Tynwald Hill Photos: ppt by Andrew Foxon

Scotland Highland Dingwall Photo: ppt by David MacDonald

THING – Thing Sites International Networking Group Network established in 2008 – NORA pre-project Reps of Thing Sites in the North Atlantic region Letter of intent signed in Gulen in June 2008 Heidi Grande Røys, The Norwegian Minister of Government Administration and Reform and Nordic Cooperation. Photo: Anne-Karin Misje

Interreg IVB Northern Periphery Project Objective: ”Exchange knowledge, specify, develop and test new and improved services for sustainable management and business development at the Northern European Thing sites. The project results should also contribute to a future nomination process of a serial inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List of the North Atlantic sites.” Total eligible budget ,85 Euro Funding from NPP ,16 Euro

Work packages Wp1Management and coordination - Norway – Lead partner Wp2Communication and dissemination - Orkneys Wp3Analysis of good practices and specifications for new service models - Shetland Wp4Pilot test web 2.0 inter-regional co-production and co-profiling of services - Iceland

Research background The histories of the Thing sites Comparative analysis – historic ties, local differences and international understanding. Include historians, archaeologists, geophysicists, place-names scholars, saga experts Tie-in to practice guidelines for interpretation and management

Improved interpretation methods across all sites Enhanced access to and understanding of sites Printed material about the Thing sites Webpage for various target groups Social media and Web 2.0 Publications aimed at tourism Pedagogical material UNESCO strategy for serial nomination Improved sustainability for Thing sites and their areas Expected outcomes Tynwald Ceremony 1896

Tasks completed Steering Group and Management Group formed Work Package leadership established Communication Strategy in place Dissemination Strategy in place Task Groups established and working Logo designed Media kit created Website, Facebook and Twitter up and running Graphical layout and document templates established Audit of Thing sites underway (data gathering key information) for ‘telling the story’ Isle of Man pursuing UK nomination for World Heritage status Links established with other UK and International Thing groups Training undertaken (Marketing and media) Best practice guidelines drafted for archaeology and geophysics studies of Thing sites.

Partner Meeting in Faeroe - Focus will be on historical data interpretation and how to ’tell the story’ for partner sites now material collected - Project administration and claims also high on agenda given recent tightening of audit processes - Project planning for tourism and marketing and education material streams of workpackages commencing in Spring Work to commence on individual websites and webpages Local Stakeholder meeting to be held November to take forward workpackage projects Project outline to be brought forward for ‘Heritage Hub’ for Cromartie Carpark for telling of Dingwall ‘story’ Next steps

Thank you!