Association for Heritage Interpretation
The Association for Heritage Interpretation (AHI) is a membership based organisation for people actively involved or concerned with heritage interpretation.
AHI began as the Society for the Interpretation of Britain’s Heritage in 1975 and later became the Association for Heritage Interpretation. It has a membership of over 500 interpreters from around the world. It is managed by an Executive Committee which meets four times a year and holds an AGM at the Annual Conference in the Autumn. AHI’s president is Lord Sandford and its patron is Loyd Grossman.
The Association for Heritage Interpretation works to:
- Encourage excellence in interpretation
- Promote professionalism in interpretation
- Facilitate discussion and exchange of ideas
- Support a wide range of organisations in their service to visitors
- Recognise best practice through a national awards scheme
AHI offers a focus for ideas, debate and networking. The association brings together people actively involved or concerned with interpretation of natural and cultural heritage. Some work as interpretation or heritage officers, park rangers or countryside managers, others as designers or illustrators, planners, teachers, curators, consultants, academics or people from many other professions with an interest in our environmental inheritance.
AHI publishes its journal Interpretation three times year, produces bi-monthly newsletters and organises a series of training events each year. In 2007, AHI worked with Interpret Scotland to hold The Vital Spark Interpretation Conference in Aviemore. The vibrant annual AHI conference is hosted in different venues across Britain and brings together interpreters to meet each other, present papers on interpretation practice and visit local visitor sites to see case studies of interpretation. Recent hosts have included Bournemouth, Cardiff, Newcastle and Shropshire. The 2013 conference is in Edinburgh in October.