A Lesson from Saskatchewan
Last week I had the pleasure to travel to the great white north to conduct a training workshop for interpreters from across the province of Saskatchewan. It was an educational trip on so many fronts. Not the least to learn that the country’s life blood is hockey and that a six pack of Labatt’s cost me $16.00!
But I digress…The most important lesson for me came in the middle of my workshop when I began a section on successful strategies to implement environmental interpretation. I asked the interpreters to write down three outcomes they would like to achieve in an interpretive program. As I normally do I write all of their goals on a board to help me preface the interest of interpreters to promote environmental attitudes / behaviors (normally at least a third of the goals in my workshops are related to environmental stewardship). But my normally sure fire “trap” failed. Out of the approximately forty outcomes desired NOT ONE related to environmental attitude and or environmental behavior.
I was baffled…”So why didn’t you folks include any of those environmental interpretive type goals?”
Their responses were as follows:
“Why would we? We can’t make such a change with our programs”
“We just want them to ‘feel the larch and taste the strawberries’…have them explore!”
“We want them to enjoy the park so they can tell others to visit”
Hmmm… so much for my prepared speech on the challenges of environmental interpretation [see Successful Strategies for Environmental Interpretation; Experiences that DO Promote Lifelong Stewardship] They seemed to already have the idea – more so than some of their counterparts in the states.
So then I get a little more aggressive and asked…”Well doesn’t the Saskatchewan government strive for interpreters to promote stewardship in their parks?”
Their answer: “I’m sure they do but it isn’t forced on us and we know that the important thing is to just get them ‘out there”
Bam!!! They beat me at my own game! Their grasp on this view along with many other interpretive strategies that paralleled what research says is successful was impressive – not to mention a bit humbling since I was there to help “train” them.
A Hypothesis
One reason I believe the Canadians had such a grasp on things that I hadn’t seen in the states was the lack of a strong presence from “higher ups” to “do” interpretation a particular way. For example, the National Park Service’s constant drum beat is to promote stewardship through interpretation. As the Interpretive Development Program for NPS states in its first paragraph of its website,
The Interpretive Development Program encourages the stewardship of park resources by facilitating meaningful, memorable visitor experiences. The program is based on the philosophy that people will care for what they first care about. This is accomplished by aiming for the highest standards of professionalism in interpretation.
Now don’t get me wrong…of course it’s an important goal but if you have learned anything from my blog and/or my book it is the attempt to achieve this stewardship with such a short process (as interpretation) is problematic.
And so I now have a new appreciation for my fine new friends from the north who believe…get them out there to enjoy the park …but first play some hockey!
Doug, although I enjoy your blog and agree with many things you say, I’m afraid I must take issue with your assertion that ‘the attempt to achieve . . . stewardship with such a short process (as interpretation) is problematic.” I take issue on several fronts, but specifically, to avoid a comment longer than your blog, on these points:
• You apparently take a rather narrow view of what interpretation is. It is not necessarily a “short process.” Granted, one 20-minute interpretive program may not get someone to change their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. I think we can all agree on that, although I myself am proof that it can (that’s another story). But even a short program can generate an immediately observable outcome that is directly related to the stated mission of the organization for which it is performed. And generally speaking, the overall efforts at interpretation at a site should be considered in totality, not one program in isolation. If interpretive planning efforts have been at all successful at a given site, then the entire site is part of the interpretive experience, not just any one element.
• For some governmental agencies, it may be part of the mission to simply get people “out there”, but I can tell you that those are the agencies that are currently shutting down their interpretive operations because they cannot show any real value to them. When you work with measurable objectives that are designed to help promote the mission of the organization, interpretive efforts can show demonstrable proof that they add value to the organization. Most nonprofit organizations (nature centers, zoos, aquariums, and such) must struggle daily for operations funding. Being able to tie their programming to something concrete is vital for their existence as funding sources require the use of logic models that show results. Numbers of people through the door and “out there” isn’t good enough. They want to know that getting out there caused something to happen in support of the organization’s mission.
• Finally, I would simply say that just because seems problematic or difficult doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be doing it. I recently read the comments of someone who suggested we should remove the “emotional connections” part of the definition of interpretation because it’s “hard to do.” If all we are going to do is convey facts, we are not interpreters. We are simply information sources – a walking wikipedia, if you will. I hope that never becomes the case. I welcome the challenge of trying to get interpreters (and their managers) to realize just how important their jobs are in helping to promote stewardship of our global natural and cultural resources. Asking them to think about why they’re doing what they’re doing and what they hope to accomplish is the first step.
When I was a little girl I had the pleasure of going on a 20 min nature hike. I still remember every little detail of that hike. The interpreter introduced me to a brand new world and I wanted to explore.
The other day I was sitting in my office and I hear a gentleman say, “I remember that lake from my Grade 9 camping trip. We went on a hike with an interpreter and it was crystal clear”
Am I an interpreter because of my Grade 9 canoe trip in the park I now guide the canoe trip on? Is he an outdoorsman because of his Grade 9 trip to a lake he is now going fishing on? Are those 20 minute moments important to stewardship and a whole lot more than just getting them out there? You bet they are.
My comment was “to feel the larch and taste the strawberries”. I am lucky to have the support of my managers. They trust my ability to interpret the parks values and goals. Through environmental education we can make a difference. Connecting with peoples emotions through their senses help put the point across, what they see, hear, feel, taste, smell, and touch makes a memory.
When I ask an environmental question and get the correct answer from a 7 year old its fantastic. When I was 7 there was no bottled water, you threw your garbage out the window of your car and recylcing, what was that? When I see the pride on a parents face because their child was right and they weren’t sure of the answer I understand. I was an adult when I went back to college for an education and I remember not caring what kind of tree it was as long as there was trees.
Things are changeing, its a consumer world. If I have the opportunity to take one family out in a canoe together, or have one child get their picture with smokey bear, I know I have given them a memory that will last. You forget what was on TV or what the latest video game was. People are so seldom given the opportunity to enjoy the natural environment around them in todays fast paced world. I just want to give them that moment where they stop and breath in the fresh air. This is where appreciation begins, when you slow down for long enough to see whats in front of you.
I know the importance of my job, as do my managers all the way up to the top. Parks are important to this province. We love our parks and our jobs. We take great pride in our accomplishments big and small and we support each other. You may have to move a log from across one of our trails and we thank you for it. Sorry we have not had the chance to get to it, it is on our ever growing list of things to do…..
We welcome you to come to any of our parks and enjoy one of our programs. Feel free to introduce yourself and say hello.