A handbook for heritage interpreters and interpretation managers

Abstract

This handbook is for heritage interpreters and interpretation managers at heritage sites to help them improve the experiences and enjoyment of their senior visitors. Throughout Europe the proportion of people that are over 55 years old is increasing. A great many of them are active citizens with interests in heritage and the environment, and with the time and resources to satisfy these interests and enthusiasms. They are an important market for heritage sites and one that is expected to grow in the coming decades. The handbook is a toolkit of guidelines and ideas on how sites can be improved for senior visitors. It provides background information about the role of interpretation in explaining natural and cultural heritage, presents a comprehensive list of essential recommendations for the management of sites for senior visitors and offers ideas on how to market sites to them. It is one of the main outputs of a project supported by the European Union Grundtvig Lifelong Learning Programme, Heritage Interpretation for Senior Audiences (HISA), which ran from 2013 to 2015 and involved partners from Germany, Italy, Malta, Poland and the United Kingdom.