1. THING Project 2009 -2012

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

3. Norway Gulating

4. Iceland Thingvellir Photo: Einar S Sæmundsen

5. Tinganes Photo: ppt by Barbara Crawford The Faroe Islands

6. Greenland Brattahlid Photo: ppt by Edda Lyberth

7. Shetland - Tingwall Photo: Lynda Mallett

8. The Orkneys Tingwall Photo: ppt by Julie Gibson

9. Scotland Highland Dingwall Photo: ppt by David MacDonald

10. Isle of Man Tynwald Hill Photos: ppt by Andrew Foxon

11. 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

12. Interreg IVB Northern Periphery Project 2009 - 2012 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.”

13. Total eligible budget 989 001,85 Euro Funding from NPP 485 378,16 Euro

14. Work packages Wp1 Management and coordination - Norway – Lead partner Wp2Communication and dissemination - Orkneys Wp3Analysis of good practices and specifications for new service models - Shetland Wp4 Pilot test web2.0 inter-regional co-production and co-profiling of services - Iceland

15. Preservation of the sites Documentation and dissemination of the history Sustainable tourism connected to the sites Platform for future research Preparatory process of inscribing more Thing Sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List

16. Improved interpretation methods Printed material about the Thing sites Webpage for various target groups Dissemination through social media and Web2.0 Publications aimed at tourism Pedagogical material UNESCO strategy Expected outcome Tynwald Ceremony 1896

17. Research agenda – the history of the Thing sites Inter-disciplinary topic Comparative analysis – historic ties Include historians, archeologists, place-names scholars, saga experts

18. Thank you!