There are six places available on this Arch ICHI ( Innovation in Cultural Heritage Interpretation ) programme to Eastern Slovakia from 12th – 19th September 2011. 

A week long exchange hosted by Krajina, a small company specialising in cultural tourism headed by Miro Knezo in eastern Slovakia. An opportunity to discover this amazing country’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage and the history, skills and traditions that are still very much a part of this regions daily life. This rich and varied programme incorporates visits to UNESCO world heritage sites and ethnographic museums to see how traditional buildings and war memorials are preserved and interpreted. Participants have the opportunity to take part in Slovakian cultural traditions and way of life by collecting, cooking and preparing food in a Slovakian home, creating traditional crafts and taking part in traditional Slovakian dancing.

Arch provides fully funded study visits for trainers from Scotland’s cultural heritage industry to visit organisations in other European countries to exchange best practice and establish new contacts and partnerships for future cooperation. Our European Partners work in a variety of contexts including cultural tourism, ‘living heritage’, traditional construction techniques and reconstruction, tourist network development and museums. These study visits are funded by the Leonardo da Vinci programme; the costs of travel, accommodation and subsistence are covered by the grant.

ICHI ( Innovation in Cultural Heritage Interpretation) aims to develop the skills of Scottish professionals who train or coach others in the field of heritage interpretation and tourism. This will be done through a programme of exchanges with partners in 7 European countries: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iceland, Latvia, Estonia and Slovakia. 5/6 people will be sent to each country, spending 7 – 8 days participating in workshops, site visits, hands-on activities and seminars. This is intended to be an intellectual exchange –European partners will come to Scotland, but you are not obliged to host them. Although we do hope to initiate new projects from all of our partners.

ICHI offers wonderful opportunities to network with people doing similar work in Scotland. It’s a great way to fulfill you CPD requirements and personal training plans for 2011. All of our partners welcome input from participants, they are very happy to adjust their itinerary to cover topics that are of specific interest to Scottish practitioners

Details of the programmes are available at http://www.archnetwork.co.uk/blog/ICHI2011  or email sheila@archnetwork.org 

You can download an application form at: http://www.archnetwork.co.uk/blog/ApplicationForms