- The Vital Spark Interpretation Conference
The Vital Spark Interpretation Conference was held from 30 September - 3 October 2007 in the
Aviemore Highland Resort in theCairngorms National Park . This international conference brought together over 300 heritage interpreters from many countries around the world who shared experiences, learned from each other and reinforced the networks of professional interpretation organisations and individual interpreters around the world.The conference was run by
Interpret Scotland and theAssociation for Heritage Interpretation and was one of the key events ofHighland 2007 - a year of events and projects celebrating Scotland's Highland culture and heritage. The name 'the Vital Spark' refers to the name of the Clyde puffer,Vital Spark , in Neil's Munro's Parahandy stories and was chosen to reflect the importance of interpreting our cultural and natural heritage to the public.The conference was accompanied by a special edition of the [http://www.interpretscotland.org.uk/website/interpretscotland.nsf/byunique/issue16.html/ Interpret Scotland Journal Issue 16] . Edited versions of the keynote papers were published in the Association for Heritage Interpretation's 'Interpretation' Journal (Volume 12 Number 3).
Conference programme
The Vital Spark featured over 70 speakers who presented papers based upon current interpretation issues and in particular concentrated upon the following conference themes:
- 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
The keynote speakers at the conference were :-
* Professor Sam H Ham, Director of the Centre for International Training and Outreach, University of Idaho, USA.
* ProfessorJames Hunter , Director of the UHI Centre for History, Scotland.
* ProfessorAlastair McIntosh , Fellow of the Centre for Human Ecology, Treasurer of the Galgael Trust and Visiting Professor of Human Ecology, University of Strathclyde, Scotland
* Shonaig Macpherson, Chair of theNational Trust for Scotland , Scotland.
* John Pastorelli, Principal of Ochre Learning, Australia.
* Jette Sandahl, Director Experience ofTe Papa Tongarewa , New Zealand.
* Susan Strauss, Storyteller, Author and Professor, USA.The main conference visits were to the site of the
Battle of Culloden and key sites within theCairngorms National Park .External links
* [http://www.thevitalspark2007.org.uk/ The Vital Spark website]
* [http://www.flickr.com/groups/484978@N25/pool/ Flickr photos of The Vital Spark ]
* [http://www.interpretscotland.org.uk/ Interpret Scotland ]
* [http://www.ahi.org.uk/ Association for Heritage Interpretation ]
* [http://www.cairngorms.co.uk/index.php Cairngorms National Park Authority ]
References
* [http://www.highland2007.com/default.aspx.locid-07lnew06n.Lang-EN.htm/ Highland 2007 Press Release ]
* [http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1577882007/ Scotsman Newspaper Article - 3 October 2007]
* [http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1730517.0.0.php/ Herald Newspaper Article - 3 October 2007]
* [http://www.interpretscotland.org.uk/website/interpretscotland.nsf/byunique/issue16.html/ Interpret Scotland Journal Issue 16 - The Vital Spark]
*Interpretation Journal Volume 12 Number 3 - The Vital Spark Keynote Papers
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