Toolkit for community interpretation
Written by Suzanna Meekins, Interpretation Officer and Richard Tyler, Sustainable Tourism Manager, Brecon Beacons National Park Authority
Suzanna.Meekins@breconbeacons.org
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Introduction
There have been a number of successful community led walking and interpretation projects within the Brecon Beacons National Park in recent years, a trend the Park Authority is keen to support. We felt that we could particularly be of help when we were able to contribute early on in projects and encourage the community participants to think about best practise, for example using other ways of delivering messages apart from panels and leaflets. 2007 saw the completion of the National Park Interpretation Strategy. It aims to take a proactive approach to promoting good practice in community led interpretation projects together with encouraging partnership to avoid duplication of effort and resources. This coincided with the Authority’s objective to support the development of local walks enabling communities to tap into the thriving walking tourism market. From here the concept of the Walking and Interpretation Toolkit started
Although there are already many good interpretative toolkits in circulation we were unaware of any that advised on the creation of new walking routes, and certainly none that brought together specialist advice on public rights of way, funding, sustainable tourism, interpretation etc. in one document. Our aim was to build upon the solid foundations provided by existing toolkits (e.g. HERIAN, 2006) which promote the development of Local Interpretative Plans. We decided to encourage people to use these by referencing them and then adding additional advice and guidance where none currently existed.
Format & design
The format of the toolkit was an important factor in determining the success of the project. There was a danger that if it appeared too corporate or laborious to read then it simply wouldn’t be used by communities. A further consideration was that the toolkit had to ‘stand alone’ as we could not count on having the resources to run workshops and/or training on how to use the toolkit.
Taking all these factors into consideration we decided against printing and instead chose a CD ROM which has hyperlinks to aid navigation and enable the user to drill down to more information on subjects of interest. In addition its digital format means that the content should be cheap to update, copy and distribute.
Content
The toolkit is divided into two sections, which are cross referenced with hyperlinks.
Section 1 covers the process of developing, marketing and maintaining local walks and section 2 the planning and implementation of interpretation projects. By bringing these together in this way we hope it will ensure that interpretation is an integral part of walking projects rather than an afterthought and that it will encourage unique, innovative and memorable ways of presenting interpretive messages.
The National Park Authority has many years experience of working with communities on a variety of projects and we were keen for the toolkit not only to promote interpretative theory but also to highlight lessons learnt from our experience. The toolkit therefore includes a wide variety of advice, covering everything from how to form a project team and apply for funding, through to marketing your walk and evaluating its success. We have also provided clear guidelines on the level of support that the National Park Authority is able to offer each community with their project and the toolkit lists organisations that may be of assistance where the Authority is not the relevant contact..
In addition we have worked with our planning department to produce a guidance note on the planning issues associated with interpretative installations.This note is intended to help communities build in the associated costs and time required at the start of the project. The toolkit also features three case-studies of successful community led interpretation projects within the National Park, together with details of the project and tips for success. We hope that these stories will inspire communities to define and present their cultural heritage and develop a wider feeling of stewardship for their environment at the same time producing a user friendly, high quality end product for visitors.
Distribution
The toolkit CD ROM has been distributed to Community Councils and groups within the National Park and can also be downloaded from the Community pages of the National Park website
Although we have consulted widely on its content, the true test of the toolkit will be in its use by real communities on real projects. We will be encouraging communities to trial the toolkit over the coming year. Although this version of the toolkit contains information that is relevant to communities living within Brecon Beacons National Park, the content is copyright free and has been developed so the contact details can be easily amended for use in other geographical areas.
Acknowledgements
The Walking and Interpretation Toolkit was written by Red Kite Environment and designed by Touchwood Design. Its content draws upon material and publications about interpretation produced by a range of organisations and individuals. The project received funding from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Sustainable Development Fund & Tourism Partnership Mid Wales.
