Keynote speakers
Maria Luz Martínez Seijo (Spain)
Member of Spanish congress and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Multiperspectivity in remembrance and history education for democratic citizenship
María holds a degree in English Philology and PhD in Innovation and Education Programmes and is a Professor of English in Secondary Education.
She is an expert in education and has published numerous articles in the media and high impact journals about different education topics. Among other tasks she was member of the Permanent Deputation of the Spanish Congress, spokesperson of the Education, Vocational Training and Sports Committee in the Spanish Congress, Rapporteur for the Spanish educational laws: LOMLOE, Vocational Training and Artistic Education. She is Member of the Spanish Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, where she is Chair of the Subcommittee on Culture, Education and Democratic Values.
At our conference she will share with us the results of her and her colleagues’ work on
Multiperspectivity in remembrance and history education for democratic citizenship.
Jurn Buisman (Netherlands)
Secretary General of ICOMOS
Approaches for contested history related to monuments, sites and landscapes
Multivocal interpretation of (from some perspectives) contested history is a challenge.
How to go about monuments to hero’s or events, which at their time were revered,
while today only a minority of population did not change its views on their history.
How to go about migrated heritage communities, whose views differ from the
common view on history defining national identity. How to go about sites of memory
with a complex past, how to present a morally charged landscape. The presentation
and interpretation of such monuments, sites, and landscapes require great care and
sensitivity, particularly when polarized perspectives within society makes these
subjects especially delicate. When histories have been suppressed or denied a
platform for ages, reinterpretation can have a shocking and even explosive impact on
society, but it can also be liberating and foster self-respect.
Dr. Jurn Buisman has over 35 years’ experience in cultural heritage preservation. He developed projects with UN, and
conceptualized exhibitions, festivals and other in the Netherlands and abroad.
He is Secretary General of ICOMOS, VP of ICOMOS-IFLA ISCCL, member of the Supervisory
Committee of Interpret Europe and Europa Nostra, member of ISCs of ICOMOS and
ICOM.
Anna Kowalczyk(Poland)
Journalist, writer, feminist, activist, EMBA
Sheroes and anti-sheroes –
how do we remember and celebrate women history in recent Poland
Anna Kowalczyk is the authoress of the bestselling “The Missing Half of History. A Brief History of Women in Poland”, the first popular science synthesis of the history of women in Poland from the Paleolithic to the present day (WAB, 2018/2024). Curently running „Missing Half of History” show and Podcast in Polish National Radio.
Founder of the Women’s History Museum Foundation. Member of the board of the Humanity in Action Poland. Editor and co-author of “Applied Herstory” manual for educators, “Herstories” card game, the Women’s History Database.
Ambassador and content supervisor of the BNP Paribas campaign “Where are our sheroes?” and co-author of the Polish-German musical spectacle “Das Moderne Maedel/The Modern Girl”.
Marcin Napiórkowski (Poland)
Doctor of philosophy (IFIS PAN), professor at the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw .
He is an associate professor of semiotics at the University of Warsaw. His research interests include collective memory and contemporary mythologies. He is the author of several books and co-author of a popular musical. He is also a passionate science communicator and a columnist for the popular Polish weekly “Tygodnik Powszechny”. Recently he began a new adventure as acting director of the Polish History Museum.
Special guest:
Sacha Dench (UK), CEO & Ambassador for the UN’s Convention
on Migratory Species 2019-2024
Sacha is a scientist and adventurer who gained a reputation for devising innovative methods to uncover the threats and potential solutions to saving species on the brink. In 2017, she flew and epic 7,000km flight in a paramotor from the Arctic to the UK, meeting different communities, industries and decision makers along the way, to rally mass support for tackling the decline in Bewick’s Swans and their habitats.
For this effort she became known as the ‘Human Swan’, was named UN Ambassador for Migratory Species, became the first woman in 50 years to win the Britannia Trophy for an outstanding feat of aviation, and the project won Environmental Campaign of the Year.
With 3 decades working in conservation research and problem-solving around the world, she cofounded Conservation Without Borders to continue to develop innovative collaborations for nature including opportunities for global corporations to be at the heart of saving species.
Sacha’s work is often described as ‘a kind of James Bond for Nature’, and is all about heroes and villains.
Her bold approaches to conservation combine science and creativity and involve literally landing right in the middle of potential conflicts over conservation.
This has taught her, the hard and fast way, how to rapidly distinguish heroes from villains, and influence which of those roles others people might see themselves playing.
Lluis Bonet, University of Barcelona (Spain)
CHARTER – European Cultural Heritage Skills Alliance, Erasmus+ funded blueprint, has been analysing during the last three years the state of the arts of the cultural heritage sector in terms of functions, occupational profiles, professional competencies and education and training schemes. During the presentation I will share the main results obtained and the draft recommendations for stakeholders and policy-makers with the aim of contrasting the views of the interpreters, both in the field of professional skills and education and training needs. Some of the results of the project focus on the interpretation of cultural heritage in an increasingly diverse Europe, on issues related to professional opportunities and mobility, the recognition and validation of education and training at a European scale, or how we faced challenges such as digitization or sustainability.
Lluis Bonet is coordinator of the CHARTER project, Director of the Cultural Management program of the University of Barcelona and expert in cultural economics, cultural policies and arts management. ENCATC Outstanding Contribution Laureate, he has been research fellow at MIT and the University of Montpelier, and active participant in many international organizations, award juries and international projects.
Subtitle
Mainstream behaviour change approaches directed at individuals acting by themselves to address sustainability, climate change and indeed heritage issues are demonstrably inadequate for the challenges we face. I would like to address how we communicate, the language we use, and how we make the heritage meaningful in ways that speak to the existential crises we face globally and locally. Despite the times in which we live, this involves going beyond seeing heritage visitors as passive consumers of what is often disempowering information, to providing a positive narrative which encourages people to see themselves as active interpreters of the heritage for others in the context of a positive and hopeful future.
David Uzzell is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey, UK. His principal research interests are public understandings of climate change, critical psychological approaches to sustainability, and identity and the meaning of the past in heritage interpretation.
Recent research has included an EU funded research project CRIC: Identity and Conflict. Cultural Heritage and the Reconstruction of Identities after Conflict (EU); On being Australian: Exploring the role of Anzac museum and heritage interpretive experiences in developing visitors’ sense of national identity (Australia), and the therapeutic effects of heritage sites during Covid lockdowns (UK).
David Uzzell, University of Surrey (UK)
Mainstream behaviour change approaches directed at individuals acting by themselves to address sustainability, climate change and indeed heritage issues are demonstrably inadequate for the challenges we face. I would like to address how we communicate, the language we use, and how we make the heritage meaningful in ways that speak to the existential crises we face globally and locally. Despite the times in which we live, this involves going beyond seeing heritage visitors as passive consumers of what is often disempowering information, to providing a positive narrative which encourages people to see themselves as active interpreters of the heritage for others in the context of a positive and hopeful future.
David Uzzell is Professor Emeritus of Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey, UK. His principal research interests are public understandings of climate change, critical psychological approaches to sustainability, and identity and the meaning of the past in heritage interpretation.
Recent research has included an EU funded research project CRIC: Identity and Conflict. Cultural Heritage and the Reconstruction of Identities after Conflict (EU); On being Australian: Exploring the role of Anzac museum and heritage interpretive experiences in developing visitors’ sense of national identity (Australia), and the therapeutic effects of heritage sites during Covid lockdowns (UK).
Graham Black, Nottingham Trent
University (UK)
Slow Interpretation in the “Age of Participation”
The “Age of Participation” has caused a revolution in people’s expectations and behaviour. Our audiences now expect to participate actively; to encounter different perspectives; to share experiences; to contribute; to decide for themselves.
It is also transforming the heritage sector, with a growing ambition to play a more active role in society, and to engage visitors with social challenges as complex as climate change and conflicting histories. This, in turn, expects more of Interpretation – most importantly, stimulating reflection.
However, reflection needs time. The longer users spend engaging with content, the more likely they are to reflect on the experience. How to influence audience behaviour by creating opportunities to slow down – from simple design to co-creation – is one of our greatest challenges. Thus ‘Slow Interpretation’.
Graham is Emeritus Professor of Museum Development at Nottingham Trent University. He has worked in and with museums for over 40 years. His fascination lies in the changing nature of heritage audiences and their expectations – and what this should mean for the practice of interpretation. Museum developments in which he has acted as Interpretation Consultant have twice won the prestigious UK £100,000 Art Fund Prize alongside many other awards. He has published three books – The Engaging Museum (2005) Transforming Museums in the 21st Century (2012) and Museums and the Challenge of Change (2021) – as well as numerous articles.
Irena Lazar, Head of the UNESCO Chair for Interpretation and Education for Enhancing Integrated Heritage Approaches (Slovenia)
Heritage interpretation and education – learning by doing
Deriving from the different discourses addressed by partners research and activities, our UNESCO Chair seeks to develop approaches and skills for heritage interpretation (and education) in an integrated perspective and thus bridge the artificial divides within heritage (natural / cultural; tangible / intangible etc). With an innovative way of education (of the students and the general public), the Chair aims at overcoming these stereotypical divisions between nature and culture, nations and ethnicities, professional sectors dealing with heritage etc, and promotes inclusion, cooperation, awareness, empathy and peace. The main goal is to develop interpretation for professionals and the general public in the context of an integrated approach to heritage.
Professor Irena Lazar is a Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia, She an archaeologist, professor, research and museum counsellor and head of the Unesco Chair. Her research fields are Roman archaeology and history, archaeology of Roman provinces, ancient glass, Roman material culture, cultural heritage (management, interpretation, promotion).
Asier Hilario Orús, Basque Coast UNESCO Global Geopark, Global Geoparks Network, Chair at IUGS International Commission on Geoheritage (Spain)
UNESCO Global Geoparks. Memory of the Earth, future for the people.
The Earth is 4,600 million years old and its heritage
is written in the rocks. The history of our mother Earth is the longest and most incredible history that has been ever written. Interpreting our
landscapes, rocks and fossils as well as all the geological processes shaping our daily lives is essential to understand the Earth system and its complex history. The concept of Deep Time revealed by the Earth’s geological record humbles us with the realization that we have just arrived. Yet study of the current Earth processes shows that our activity is rapidly and deeply transforming the Earth’s surface environments and processes. UNESCO Global geoparks celebrate and interpret the heritage of the Earth and include local communities and the creation of local development strategies for a better future.
Asier Hilario is a PhD Geologist with broad international expertise on Geoheritage, Geoparks, Geoconservation and Geotourism. His professional career is especially linked to the Basque Coast UNESCO Global Geopark. His main activity is related to the communication, assessment and management of geological heritage at national and international level. Since 2012 he has been part of the Coordination Committee of the European Geoparks network and he also belongs to the Advisory Committee of the European and Global Geoparks network. He has many other roles, such as senior evaluator for UNESCO Global Geoparks’ roster of evaluators, member of the Geoheritage specialist group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),
and member of the Scientific Board of the International Geosciences Program (IGCP). At present he is chairman of the Geoheritage Commission of the International Union of Geological Sciences IUGS.
Urs Reif, President of the European Ranger Federation (Germany)
The egg-laying-wool-milk-pig – European rangers as intermediaries
Rangers in Europe tackle many different duties in their job. Some focus on monitoring, some or education or law enforcement or even combatting poaching …
The most common focus in all ranger duties is communication and being intermediaries on behalf of nature and conservation. Protected areas need defenders and, as such, rangers roam widely. Rangers who are appropriately trained are able to connect to people in their day-to-day work and offer them answers and meaning in meeting small and big challenges. Rangers can offer direct participation, even in areas such as biodiversity losses, to their guests in protected areas. Nature interpretation offers a great means of delivering this challenge.
Urs was born in 1980, studied biology and nature conservation and is now working as a chief ranger for the Black Forest national park in Germany. In addition, Urs has worked in conservancy reporting and in the federal ministry for nature conservation. As a volunteer, he sits on the ranger working group for Europarc Germany and is president of the European Ranger Federation.
