Heritage interpretation has a key role in contributing to sustainable storytelling and placemaking. How can we work with communities to make sure their stories are told in the way they want to tell them?
6. INTERPRETATION
Shallow and uninviting interpretation does not
stimulate enough interest to result in return
visits or increased visitation and subsequent
leading to lower incomes and little support to
local communities livelihood
7. PLACEMAKING
Placemaking is a cooperative project or strategy
about a public place which focuses on economic
and social wellbeing as well as quality of life
25. BENEFITS
Interpretation that is put in is relevant and
will resonate with the community
People support what they help to create
Editor's Notes
Bet you weren’t expecting that.
A few years ago I worked for a heritage grants program. Applicants would submit Expressions of Interest for projects. These could be completely scoped and costed, or they be along the lines of ‘we want to use our local heritage to develop connections in the community and increase visitation.’
Projects went through a co-design process. We would go out and talk to the applicant and get a better idea of what they wanted to achieve.
From this we could start to build up the project. Were there other groups in the community who could contribute to getting these outcomes? Are there local programs that could be leveraged?
Once the parameters were established the next stage was to get all the relevant people in a room and together map a path to achieve that outcome, co-design what the project would look like. Hop would do what, what the final products would look like. Funding, timeframes – that sort of thing. This was the project that went up for final funding approval and it could look very different from the original EOI.
I met with the local historical society in an inner west Sydney suburb that had been severely impacted by some of the surrounding infrastructure development. They had applied for interpretive signage around the suburb. They had worked out the text for the sign, the images and where they were going to go. They just needed the funds to get the signs made and installed.
When I met them, my first question was what do you want to achieve not what do you want to do. The answer to the second quest was easy
they wanted to put in signs because that’s what they knew and because signs generally get funded.
What they wanted to achieve was a very different thing. It took a bit but we got to an answer. They wanted to celebrate their stories, create connections and reinvigorate a sense of community.
Suddenly, this project isn’t about just signs.
A historical society might put signs in.
A historical society working with the arts organisation could fill walls with murals.
Working with schools could be a way to teach students how to undertake historical research. They could then come up with the stories that would go onto the signage to be installed. Giving a new generation a connection and sense of ownership over the stories and history of the area.
We were walking around, because this is a very active process.
I asked if there were any other stories that related to specific ethnicities or cultural groups that needed to be included.
Apart from the post-WW2 Italian migration, there isn’t really any of that sort of thing around here. Plus, Leichardt already has an Italian Festival.
This is Queen Salote Tupou III, Queen of Tonga from 1918 to her death in 1965.
Order of the British Empire.
Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George.
Dame Grand Cross of Order of St John.
At one point in our meeting one of the gentlemen, almost as an aside said - you see up the street there , well the queen of Tonga and her entourage and family would come and stay there for months at a time because of the strong influence of Methodist missionaries in the Pacific. So back to our signs….
What I took from this experience was:
There is a difference between outputs and outcomes. You can eat all the brains you want but what are you actually trying to achieve when you do that.
If you only speak to one person or one group you only get one story.
Giving the keynote speech at ITB (International Tourismu-Borse) in Berlin in 2018 Charles Banda – Zambian Minister for Tourism said this.
How does this relate to placemaking?
Placemaking should focus on economic and social wellbeing and quality of life. Heritage interpretation has the ability to be a major component of this.
But Gary, I hear you ask, how does this relate to isolated infrastructure?
This were two timber trestle bridge on the outskirts of Tenterfield on a disused rail line that was removed for safety reasons. The bridges weren’t heritage listed but this one crossed over part of a heritage listed stockyard. The SOHI recommended putting an interpretation sign in with an associated walking trail.
Except the trail would be isolated, on the outskirts of town, off the New England Highway between a fenced off rail corridor it is illegal to enter and the Council works depot.
Shallow and uninviting or meaningful and accessible interpretation?
Charleyong Bridge between Braidwood and Nerriga in the Queanbeyan and Palerang local government area. This is an Allen type timber truss bridge (built in 1905) that is being removed and replaced with a new concrete bridge, the interpretation is to be a sign in a small lay-over area on the history and significance of the bridge, relevant images and the relationship with the Wool Road.
The Wool Road was constructed in 1841 to transport wool and other goods from Braidwood and surrounds out to the coast.
This might be fine, but the history of the Wool Road is not highlighted in the tourism/heritage products of the Queanbeyan-Palerang Council area. The Visitor Information Centre, about 20km away had no information about it.
Although there may be nothing wrong with the proposed interpretation, it isn’t relevant to the stories that the local Council is telling.
The Placemaking Team at Queanbeyan-Palerang Council says their focus is about activating under-utilised Places and Spaces.
Their Tourism Plan has a vision to connect the region and honour its heritage.
Getting people to move between towns and villages is the focus of tourism.
Getting people to create local places that are valued and admired by the community and visitors is the role of placemaking.
This siloed nature both within and between government agencies leads to a missed opportunity.
Charleyong and Tenterfield – are just 2 examples of work being undertaken on behalf state government agencies in regional or rural areas that have a commitment to interpretation.
The Roads and Maritime Services manages 357 heritage items or precincts, the vast majority of which are in regional areas. The Country Regional Network, 170 – Australian Rail Track Corporation, 109.
If a State government is going to put in a signage at a site. Then the local Council should be able to leverage that to tell a story that they want to tell, a
story that will have been informed by their own engagement with the community.
Done well this will start to have economic and social benefits. Interpretation is a key part of making this sustainable.
This idea is a few years old now, but the Project for Public Spaces put forward the idea of the Power of 10.
It goes something like this.
A region needs 10 destinations.
A destination needs 10 places.
A place needs 10 things to do.
The number is not relevant it will always be constrained by the scale of the place. But the idea is to create multiple places in a region and link them.
When it comes interpreting a bridge, we could just give the what, when and how. But how important is a bridge?
There is a speech in of Season 9 of The Walking Dead (zombies again). Ezekiel says a bridge is not just a bridge. Bridges connect us all, roads are the lifeblood of civilization.
A little dramatic I know but the underlying idea is sound. Bridges and railway stations are not isolated artefacts. They connect people and places.
The Wool Road has, if not physical at least historical connections, with all these places from Vincentia at its end on the coast to Goulburn and Canberra
Good, meaningful and thoughtful interpretation at Charleyong Bridge should be a tool to reinforce these connections. It should be viewed through the lens of how it can contribute to the economic and social wellbeing of the region.
JHR was looking at putting some interpretation in at Grenfell Railway Station, about 400km from Sydney. The Station is located at the outskirts of the town and is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register.
This is what was proposed. Install another interpretive sign, next to the existing one at the railway station that will focus on watering facilities as an elemental aspect of the steam locomotive era.
I thought it might be a good idea to speak to Council about this and see what they thought.
Their advice was:
The Council is reconsidering its position on static interpretation signs in the town because there are already quite a lot and Council has to maintain them.
There is a set of well-preserved shop fronts, including early bank buildings, in the town that were built during its heyday. There is a direct relationship between the railway, the wealth of the town and the development of the shops and banks. That is part of the story that they would like told.
For those of you old enough to remember feel free to hum the Dad’s Army theme.
The Station and O’Brien’s Hill bookend the town. O’Brien’s Hill that has been the focus of tourism and interpretation efforts. There is a desire to get pedestrians moving across and through town between these sites.
So, if we were to put up the signage that was originally proposed it would almost entirely, completely not meet any of the objectives that Council has.
The approach that I have taken is to talk to Council and see how they want to proceed. We are looking at options that could bring the wider community into the project. The next step is likely to be a co-design session that would involve different groups. Schools, tourist organisations, artists.
But it is going to be a collaborative process and I will be guided, by how Council wants to play this. Afterall, it is their town, their community and their stories that are being told. Part of the approach acknowledges that it is going to be a longer process than if we just went to a consultant and said come up with a sign and words to go on it and install it. But that’s cool. We want to put good interpretation in, not fast interpretation.
How is this approach beneficial?
If people get input into telling the stories that are relevant and important to them these stories are going to have more resonance. It has a better chance of leading to the use and activation of places leading to social and quality of life benefits.
Having a framework for how they want their stories told can give Councils a way to leverage interpretation on a regional scale.
This means any interpretation that is installed can be used to create or reinforce linkages between places. Getting people moving through the landscape, increasing visitation and having economic benefits.
I don’t think that I am telling you any secrets when I say that for government agencies responsible for infrastructure assets, heritage interpretation is not their core business.
If you can give me a set of stories that you want told that makes my life easier. I don’t have to find a consultant to do the research for me. I might even be able to save money. Or I can do more with the budget I have.
This is perhaps the greatest benefit. It goes back to my earlier slide – people support what they help to create.
How can this be done?
Well the first step is talking.
My abstract speaks of ‘Participatory Design’. This approach is one where all stakeholders are involved in the design. In the context of heritage interpretation to needs to happen at different levels.
There needs to be participation at the local level – between Council’s and the communities they represent. This needs to engage as many people as possible.
Once placemaking and tourism and heritage start to work together you can create a framework that can be used to make heritage interpretation serve a wider purpose. Any framework doesn’t have to be prescriptive; it might just be a set of guidelines. Then comes the next step, talking to the State government agencies.
It was suggested to me that local Councils lacked the power to talk to State government agencies about these things. This could only be done by regional tourism or council bodies.
As I said heritage interpretation is not core business for infrastructure agencies. If you can give me a set of stories that you want told that makes my life, as the person responsible for installing heritage interpretation, easier. You might find your ability to influence is greater than expected.
Consider a world where heritage and placemaking and tourism work together at the local level work together with their local communities. And then those ideas and approaches are used to influence how heritage interpretation is done at a State government level.
I was told that this was just would just be some sort of Rainbow Unicorn Land.
On the contrary, having a system that says engaging different parts of government and local communities in how they tell their stories is not the norm – well that’s just broken.
When we start to have these conversations, we can develop active and sustainable placemaking across regions that leverages isolated sites to help strengthen connections between people and places.
An isolated bridge or railway station can be a waymarker, a step in a larger story.
When it comes to interpreting regional infrastructure, we could just bung a sign in. Or we could start to find ways to make interpretation a key component of sustainable placemaking and storytelling contributing to social and economic benefits and even improving quality of life for visitors and locals alike.
