Interpret Europe opened the international conference on “Fostering Heritage Communities”. This is the first time that such a four-day event is held online by IE for more than 150 participants from 35 countries. The Institute of Education, Heritage and Tourism, IETT as a member of Interpret Europe since 2019, closely followed all the first day sessions.
The conference opened with a welcome speech by Mr. Thorsten Ludwig, IE Organizing Director since 2015 and the Director of the UNESCO Office in Brussels, Ms. Louise Haxthausen.
The protection of cultural and natural heritage by communities is the cornerstone of the Council of Europe Faro Convention. The main reference was dedicated to this convention presented professionally by Mrs. Kathrin Merkle, France; Head of the Cultural Heritage Sector at the Council of Europe and Secretary of the Steering Committee for Culture, Heritage and Landscape.
Part of the panel were also well-known names from the field of tourism, natural and cultural heritage such as: Mark Wallis, Valya Stergioti, Michael Glen, Vida Ungar, Elena Weber, etc. Inspirational speeches, workshops, presentations, panel discussions were some of the elements of today’s conference, giving us a clear idea of how interpretation can revitalize cultural heritage communities.
On the second day of the conference, Albania will have a presentation from the pedagogy of the Department of Tourism at the University of Durres, Dr. Mirela Tase, about the challenges of Eco-tourism and its perception by the population in Albania.
