Barbara Mertin (Austria) Senior Ranger & Beaver Specialist Danube Floodplain Nationalpark Varna / Bulgaria

Definition of Interpretation Principles of Interpretation Learning Concepts Props This & that

An educational activity which aims to reveal meanings and relationships through the use of original objects, by firsthand experience, and by illustrative media, rather than simply to communicate factual information. Freeman Tilden

Interpretation is relevant to the experience of the visitor Interpretation is revelation based on information Interpretation is an art Interpretation should provoke not simply instruct Interpretation should present a whole, not just a part Interpretation for children should follow a different approach

INSIDE : The experience happens in your visitors‘ perceptions, seen by their point of view, created by a combination of their feelings, sensations and prior experiences. You can‘t control this! OUTSIDE: An experience is made up of many seperate pieces outside the visitor. You can control nearly every aspect of this!

To understand the parts, we must first see the whole. Unless helped, we often fail to find, see, or comprehend. Discovery makes learning fun.

Props

Prop A physical aid that strengthens or supports an interpretive message

real objects are taken from nature such as feathers, antlers, bones, etc.

Models and replicas appear for the more or the less real such as animal sculptures made of plastic, wood or synthetic resin, puppets, cast of animal tracks, etc.

2 D-Art Design such as maps, pictures, diagrams, documents, etc.

Instruments & Audio examples such as bird whistles, CD/MP3-Player for demonstrating bird calls, instruments for imitating natural sounds, bat-detector

Didactical material Mirrors, magnifying glasses, blindfolds, ropes, rubber stamps, etc.

Guided imagery A mental journey that is facilitated, led or described by the interpreter to help visitors experience a situation or scenario that they probably would not by the interpreter to help visitors experience a situation or scenario that they probably would not be able to experience in person be able to experience in person

Drama

Understanding your audience

International Groups

Knowing your audience Researching the Resource Connecting Tangibles to Intangibles Defining Universal Concepts

Providing people with new perspectives Landscapes have histories and these are contained not only in the soils and fauna, and in the traces of human life, but also in the history of the ways of seeing the Land. Bernard Cohen 1997 Bernard Cohen 1997