Interpretive Planning

Can any interpreter be an interpretive planner? Are the two terms synonymous? Does being a good interpreter mean you’ll also be a good planner or vice versa? Two events happened this week that caused me to think about this again. And the answer, for me, anyway is still the same. No, the two words are not synonymous, nor are the job skills the same for the two very different jobs.

I’ve been both in my career – I’ve done front-line programs as an interpreter on a variety of topics including both history and nature. The bulk of my career has been spent as an interpretive planner. And while I can say that I certainly benefitted as a planner from having good interpretive skills and understanding what it takes to be an interpreter from a programmatic standpoint, I can also say that those skills do not necessarily provide all the needed basics for sound interpretive planning.

Interpreters should have excellent communication skills to convey an interpretive theme, whether in writing or in personal presentations. They should also be extremely well-versed in the resource information needed to support their theme. Although some interpreters do their best work behind the scenes as writers, most tend to want to be in front of people. Interestingly, many would classify themselves as introverts on a personal level, but on a professional level they usually enjoy that daily interaction with the public that occurs when they’re providing personal interpretation services (programs).

Interpretive planners, on the other hand, may or may not have a great deal of public interaction as they perform their duties. If public input is one of those tools that is required for a particular project, then learning good facilitation skills (different than interpretive communication) is a real plus for a planner. Certainly, an interpretive planner must not only understand what interpretation is and how to craft a theme on a much broader scale than a single program (requiring an entirely different process), but they must also have a basic understanding of the many related disciplines that will be involved with the process – marketing, architecture, landscape architecture, business management, exhibit design, strategic planning, and more.

Any interpreter who has attempted to write a site-wide or region-wide interpretive plan quickly learns that knowing how to put together a single program does not prepare you for the intricacies of successful interpretive planning. Conversely, many, if not most, interpretive planners, would be at a loss if asked to present an interpretive program to a group of people visiting the beach on the weekend. And that’s okay. They are different jobs, with different skill sets required. Some people can do both, and that’s okay too. In fact, it’s a real bonus in my view.

There are many, many different jobs and job titles related to the interpretive field. Interpretive planner is just one of them (and it’s also different from exhibit designer, or architect, or landscape architect, or marketing specialist, or strategic planner, or any number of other jobs), but it is most definitely not the same thing as “interpreter.”

For more information, visit NAI’s Certification Handbook and Study Guide to see the knowledge, skills and abilities listed for Certified Heritage Interpreters and Certified Interpretive Planners.

National Association for Interpretation offers an interpretive planning class five or six times a year – 2010 workshops can be seen at http://interpnet.com/certification/cert_calendar.shtml. The classes last five days and are usually attended by a mix of practicing planning consultants, those who want to be planning consultants, architects, landscape architects, exhibit designers, site managers, academicians, marketing specialists, and agency planners. People attend for all sorts of reasons – some want to be certified as interpretive planners by NAI and the class helps them work towards those requirements. Others simply want the training so that they become better planners or better understand the process so they become better project managers or planning/design team members. Still others are looking for contacts and hope to create working relationships with other people in the class.

Each class is somewhat unpredictable and unique, because each class is held at a different host site and has a different mix of participants. The class format includes morning discussions about planning in general and explores the details of the 5-M Model from Interpretive Planning: the 5-M Model for Successful Planning Projects, available from NAI’s Association Store. In the afternoons, the class breaks into small groups to work on a very real project at the host site. On the final day, each group presents its findings and recommendations. It’s an intense workshop format but provides real skills that can be applied to any project in the future.

Host sites benefit in many ways. The host site selects a project for the class to work on. The projects have included such things as planning an exhibit room at a visitor center, creating a new interpretive entry trail at a nature center, determining the most appropriate adaptive reuse and interpretation of historic structures, suggesting an overall strategy for making a nature reserve more responsive to local community users, and a wide variety of other projects. The host site, in determining the project, must decide the level of information they hope to gain – the larger the project scope, the more conceptual the results will be as class participants have only five days in which to complete and present a draft plan. We have taken this workshop to more than 40 sites in the US, and internationally to Panama, Wales, China, and Mexico.

Because each group in the class works on the same project, the host site will receive four to seven different approaches from which the host site staff can draw ideas to craft a final plan. The host site receives a copy of all materials produced in the class, including a DVD of all the presentations. The host site is also allowed to bring six participants to the workshop. For all that the host site receives, there is a price, however. Host sites must pay a flat rate of $5750. That includes the six seats at the workshop (but not certification application fees for those individuals should they wish to attempt certification), copies of all materials generated, instructor expenses, and workshop materials. The host site must provide a meeting space large enough to provide seating for up to 21 people in a U-shape, either on-site or at a nearby hotel. And finally, the host site must provide background information related to the project (site plans, floor plans, visitation figures, mission/goals, etc. as appropriate for the site and project).

The instructors for the class, myself and Tim Merriman, have a combined 60+ years in the interpretation field, and bring that wealth of experience as operations managers, consulting planners, and authors to the table, allowing participants to ask and receive answers to an astonishing array of questions.

Our schedule is full for 2010, but if you are interested in booking your site  as a host site for 2011, download and complete the host site application form and send it to the NAI office or call me, Lisa Brochu, at 888-900-8283 (toll-free in the USA) or 970-484-8283 (international) for more information and to initiate the process.