TEHIC-Handbook_of_best_practices

4. Mapping the profession of heritage interpreter TEHIC Towards a European Heritage Interpretation Curriculum 54 In any case, the demand for professionals involved with the conveyance and commu - nication of heritage values began to increase significantly at the end of the last century. A number of factors contributed to this, including: 1 Increasing access by society and the conveyance of meaning of natural and cultur - al assets: the protection of more sites with natural values, the restoration of mon- uments, the enlargement and opening of new museums, sites, and visitor centres, among others, requiring professional assistance. 2 The crisis of traditional museum exhibitions and the emergence of new forms (such as ecomuseums) and exhibition methods whose gravitational centre shifts from the heritage object to the individual who relates to that heritage, i.e., the public. 3 The spread of heritage values. Heritage values shift from being understood as ele- ments of intrinsic value, with preservation as the main policy of action on them, to being recognised as instrumental values for different economic and social purpos - es: urban regeneration, economic development, fostering critical thinking within its environment or promoting social inclusion and wellbeing (Charter of Brussels 2010; Greffre 2010; Šraml 2013; Interpreter Europe 2016; OECD/ICOM 2019) 4 , which entails the implementation of actions aimed not only at heritage preservation, but also at heritage use by society. Increased activity in making heritage available for public access generated the need for professionals in management and communication, as the university teaching model did not respond to the expectations and demands of the industry (Miró, Padró and Schouten, 1992). Given the traditional policies of mere surveillance discussed above, such deficiency was evident in all transfer activities. Take Sweden, for example, where a new field of action for heritage professionals has emerged since the middle of the 20th cen - tury as the following start to gain recognition: (1) a growing interest in heritage sites, (2) just preservation is not enough and (3) a need by people to be connected to their past. Between 1960 and 1970 the focus of heritage work shifts to a visitor-centred approach, paving the way for the introduction of heritage interpretation. (Fredholm 2023). This summary of the Swedish case could be that of any other European country, with some slight variations. 4 This process of patrimonial instrumentalization was progressive and there was no shortage of critics in the face of the governments' interest in taking advantage of the growing demand for access to heritage for tourism to sustain the jobs destroyed by deindustrialisation during the 1980s. (Hewison 1987). The period also coincided with the emergence of neoliberal doctrines, such as the one introduced by Margaret Thatch - er's Government in the United Kingdom, where privatisation of certain areas or elements of themanagement chain was promoted in order to reduce costs and obtain some economic return, a vision that finally pre - vailed. A summary of this topic can be found in González (1999,157-164).