New Handbook on Heritage Interpretation for Senior Audiences

Interpret Europe, the European Association for Heritage Interpretation, has recently published Heritage Interpretation for Senior Audiences: a Handbook for Heritage Interpreters and Interpretation Managers. The handbook is aimed at heritage interpreters and interpretation managers at heritage sites to help them improve the experiences and enjoyment of their senior visitors. This handbook results from the HISA project (Heritage Interpretation for Senior Audiences), involving partners in Germany, Malta, Poland, Italy and the UK, which between 2013 and 2015 has aimed to support interpretation for senior audiences beyond 55 years. Due to demographic change seniors are becoming increasingly important for many heritage sites and museums. They also play an important role as active citizens and often influence the opinions of others. The recently-edited Handbook on heritage interpretation for senior audiences, edited by Peter Seccombe and Patrick Lehnes and involving staff and experts in the five participating countries, introduces key notions of heritage interpretation and provides guidelines on heritage interpretation for senior audiences, on issues including physical requirements, visual access, emotional engagement and social and cultural factors influencing interpretation. Attention is also paid to the role of volunteering at heritage sites. Examples and case studies are included throughout the document. This is one of several documents emerging from the HISA project, with others including a good practice checklist of interpretation managers on heritage interpretation for senior audiences, an assessment form for visitors, learner and stakeholder surveys and a paper on the marketing of heritage sites. The project was supported by the Lifelong Learning programme of the European Commission. In addition to Interpret Europe, partners included the Society of the Friends of the National Museum Kraków, Poland; the Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture, University of Malta; the Centro Studi Formazione Orientamento (Ce.S.F.Or), Italy; and Red Kite Environment Ltd., UK. The Handbook on heritage interpretation for senior audiences can be downloaded for free at http://www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/projects/HISA/HISA_handbook.pdf