Time to Write

Just back from the Interpretive Master Planning Course at Plas tan y Bwlch in Wales (Snowdonia National Park Training Center). Just working at home for the next two weeks finishing up interpretive plan drafts and other odds and ends. Getting ready for a trip to Costa Rica at the end of the month. We are planning for next years courses, including a new course on Interpretive Guiding, which we offered a few years ago. The photo is of those course participants during a field trip expeirence to practice tour guiding techniques at Snowdonia National Park. More later.. jv

Back to Wales

If it's the end of Aug-first of September it is time for my training course at the Snowdonia National Park Training Center, in Wales, UK. I will be heading off on Sunday and be there for the week teaching my course on Interpretive Master Planning.
Fall looks to be very busy with both current projects, several new projects starting up, and several projects in the proposal/bidding stage, including some work in Hawaii with the Corps of Engineers. Here is a general pic of the training center in Wales. More later next week. - jv

Heading to Atlanta

This week has been slow - just working on planning documents and catching up on paperwork after returning from South America. At the end of September we will be heading to Costa Rica for 10 days. In the meantime, next week we are heading to Atlanta and a visit to the Atlanta Aquarium. At the end of the month I am off to Wales, UK, to teach my Interpretive Planning Course at the Snowdonia National Park Training Center. We hope to begin our "Landscape Museum" project in Georgia in early September as well. So lots on the plate. More later. jv

Santa Fe de Antoiqua - Columbia

The conference on heritage tourism that was held at the historic colonial city of Santa Fe de Antioqua was a great success. Even though I was the only US speaker, I met many wonderful people and despite the language barrier we managed to have some great conversations. Columbia is a real undiscovered treasure for heritage tourists from the US, Asia, and Europe to discover. The small historic cities that were focused on during the conference are real historic treasures too. We experienced some really great regional food, music and cultural events. And the folks who put the conference together were wonderful and very professional. Also, there were no issues about security of safety either. This is a place ready for tourism development. All in all, I was impressed by what I saw and experienced and hope to return again. Some pics of the conference hotel.

Off to Columbia

Tomorrow I am off to Columbia, South America to participate in the Congreso de la Red de Pueblos, Patrimonio de Columbia. Some photos are shown on a previous blog entry. Will post more once I am there. Cheers, jv

Chestnut Trust Field Work

Spent the past week at the American Chestnut Land Trust working on their interpretive plan and walking trails. They do have some amazing trails for the region. The land they manage were historically tobacco farm fields and they are interpreting the recovery and succession of those historic farms and fields back to a natural environment. Hot work in the 90+ degrees days. Some trail views.

Dalton Landscape Museum

I was just notified that JVA was awarded the contract to do the Interpretive Master Plan for the City of Dalton (Georgia) Civil War Landscape Museum. The Landscape Museum concept is a fairly new one. Think of the city, region of County as "the museum", and each historic site or facility within it as the "exhibit galleries". Then each of the exhibits in that facility as the gallery exhibits. We will begin this new and innovative project in August with an extensive inventory of Civil War sites (historic homes, depots, battlefields, cemeteries and other related locations within and just outside of the City Limits of Dalton. Having done a few other projects in the area for Prater's Mill, I am familiar with many of the historic sites that will be included in the plan. Ultimately a driving tour "museum guide" will be developed as part of the heritage tourism plan for the city. The photo is of a civil war Confiderate Army Artillary cannon implacement earth work site located near Dalton, and a graphic of how the site would have looked when active.