NAI International Conference South Korea 2014
This year the National Association for Interpretation (NAI) returned to South Korea for its international interpretation conference, hosted by the people of Suncheon in the south of the country. For those new to NAI, it’s a professional association for people involved in interpreting cultural and natural heritage resources, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
What Seoul’s subway reminded us about interpretation
- Clarity scales: colour, iconography, and consistent language make complex systems simple.
- Multilingual by design: design for multiple languages from the outset, not as a retrofit.
- Predictability builds trust: frequent, reliable “beats” help visitors relax and engage.
Suncheon Bay Ecological Park and the Field of Reeds
After four days in Seoul, a comfortable bus carried us south on the four-hour trip to Suncheon. Tragically, the day we arrived in South Korea a ferry disaster claimed many schoolchildren; the nation was in mourning. Our Suncheon hosts showed remarkable grace and hospitality throughout.
The conference took place in a “botanical garden” setting, though Suncheon Bay Ecological Park feels closer to a theme park in scale and ambition. About a kilometre south lies the Field of Reeds wetland. A late-afternoon walk across this world heritage wetland to a mountain-top viewing platform rewarded us with what locals call “the best view in South Korea”—a sweeping, tidal landscape that makes the interpretive job easy: let place do the heavy lifting.
Conference highlights
The program ranged widely and, as always, it was hard to take it all in. We met colleagues from the USA, Canada, China, Nepal, India, Malaysia, Norway, England, Myanmar, and of course Korea—a reminder that the challenges we face are shared, even if our contexts differ.
Five things we brought home to our practice
- Outcomes before media: start with what you want visitors to think, feel, and do—then choose media that serve those outcomes.
- Honour cultural authority: invite communities to lead the stories that are theirs to tell; design the process as carefully as the product.
- Layered access: offer multiple ways in—short headlines, deeper reads, tactile and audio layers—so more people can connect.
- Wayfinding as interpretation: seamless orientation (like Seoul’s subway) frees attention for meaning-making on site.
- Prototype in the open: quick tests with real visitors beat assumptions; small iterations compound into big improvements.
Practical tips if you’re going
- Incheon to Seoul: the airport train is efficient and affordable; taxis are easy late at night (~AUD$80 to central Seoul).
- Base in Itaewon: walkable, diverse dining, and good transport connections.
- Subway basics: 11 lines, colour-coded, clear bilingual signage, and an intuitive trip planner app.
- Suncheon Bay: leave time for the Field of Reeds boardwalk and the climb to the viewing platform—sunset is magic.
Gratitude and what’s next
Our sincere thanks to the NAI team and our Suncheon hosts for a generous, well-run gathering during a difficult national moment. Encounters like these sharpen our craft and widen our circle.
