IKYDA 2004-2007: BEST PRACTICES IN HERITAGE MANAGEMENT AT REGIONAL LEVEL: VISITOR-CENTRIC HERMENEUTICS. A JOINT RESEARCH PROJECT OF THE UNIVERSITIES FREIBURG I. BR. AND OF THE AEGEAN. Dorothea Papathanassiou-Zuhrt, B.A., M.A., M.Sc. The IRIS Research Laboratory, University of the Aegean Prof. Odyssseas Sakellaridis, Ph.D. Department of Business Administration, University of the Aegean This paper has been developed as a part of the joint project of the Universities of Freiburg and of the Aegean, within the framework of IKYDA “Programme for the promotion of the exchange and scientific cooperation between Greece and Germany” funded by IKY. ABSTRACT Natural und cultural heritage is commonly recognized as the major capital for sustainable tourism development. It takes more effort and efficiency though to develop successful tourism at heritage places than just offer heritage resources to the tourism market below cost. In order to effectively use local heritage for tourism, a series of innovative tools need to be invented, which would guarantee: a- visitors a variety of memorable experiences, a range of activities and service quality at local level; b- destinations a branded tourist image and high added value products; c-local populations a highly effective job creation as well as fostering a sense of pride in local heritage. The Department of Physical Geography (IPG) at Albrecht Ludwigs Universität, Freiburg and the IRIS Research Laboratory, School of Business Planning, University of the Aegean have independently recognised the necessity to investigate widespread shortcomings and factors of success for sustainable tourism uses of heritage resources at local and regional level. Their common project aims to improve practical applications in the field of heritage management, especially in a” visitor-friendly” heritage context applying cognitive tools for tourism planning, validated by international literature review, praxis and data. The development of an international quality label for a visitor-centric Heritage Interpretation and further the development of curricula related with interpretation as a sub-discipline of heritage management is also a significant aim of the joint project. The results shall be also used for a follow-up project on international benchmarking in order to enhance the public presentation, management and marketing of heritage sites in diverse cultural and natural heritage contexts. Key words: non-captive audiences, recreational learning environments, significance assessment process (SAP), visitor centred hermeneutics (VCH) , cognitive load management (CLM) , holistic interpretive planning (HIP) 1. INTRODUCTION In the recent past measures to rapidly increase turnover led to unsustainable uses of heritage resources, degrading cultural and natural heritage attractions in many destinations. On the other hand experienced travellers with a strong environmental conscience and respect for local cultures exercise pressure upon the tourism industry for quality products. Besides demand for customary services (accommodation, gastronomy) they particularly expect to experience what is significant about the culture and the nature of the places visited. In order to attract and satisfy these visitors, tourism destinations should highlight their distinctive heritage features professionally establishing worldwide a destination’s image with competitive products, which would not constitute exchangeable commodities on the basis of pricing policies. For decades the approach Heritage Interpretation has offered practical solution on how tourism destinations can escape homogenisation, ecological and social decline. In many parts of non-English speaking Europe these techniques and their philosophy have not been acknowledged yet. In order to create a place’s identity, a competitive product and export their image globally, destinations have to focus on their heritage potential. For this purpose they need tools and methods to help them use local resources as lucrative tourism product components, able to generate multiplier effects in the local economy. Main task for the present research is to develop a multidisciplinary process model able to create endurable heritage tourism products, establish a place’s identity and the desirable attachment to tourist destinations through cognitive processing of information with tourism value and specific communication policies in recreational settings. 2. THE AIMS OF THE COMMON PROJECT The research funded in Germany by DAAD and in Greece respectively by IKY started officially in January 2005 and concludes in December 2007. The common research project aims to foster the approach of a multifaceted heritage management in Germany and Greece, through well documented and evaluated pilot projects.