TEHIC-Handbook_of_best_practices

5. Heritage interpretation and university education 85 Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden 14 etc.) but none of them could be qualified as a real Master in Heritage Interpretation. In the near or slightly more distant future, heritage interpretation will be gradually incorporated into university curricula as an important field of study, which is an essential precondition to see it driving theoretical research and making stronger connections between theory and practice. Once this is done, an exponential interest for heritage interpretation as a field of study will start to thrive and, therefore, so will do university related programmes. As a side effect, it is worth noting that many university masters which address heritage (or museum) studies will not necessarily have heritage interpretation as a prime subject matter. Interconnectivity of Degrees (master or equivalent) vs. heritage interpretation related work: E ven though at first sight obtaining a master’s degree in heritage interpretation, or more precisely, a specialisation within heritage studies, heritage management or museology/museum studies may not seem so necessary to the extent a straightforward level of heritage interpretation is needed (e.g., for guiding) it would nevertheless be ad- visable for any upper level (like master interpretation planning, organising interpretation at heritage sites etc.). As we pointed out above, future heritage interpreters, if well or- ganised and skilled, with such education will gain competencies to perform their work with the highest quality standards. We are not there yet, but with the TEHIC project we are pushing limits to be as close as we want them to be, today, or in the near future. Level 6 – Bachelor’s level or equivalent A s far as bachelor’s degrees are concerned the situation is relatively similar as for the master’s level. The main difference that we noticed is the lack of a bachelor’s degree specialised in heritage interpretation. On the one hand this is understandable, since her- itage interpretation is, as we already explained, a field of study strongly interconnected with other disciplines, like humanities, or natural or technical sciences. In this sense, and regardless of the provision of advanced knowledge by bachelor’s degrees involving a critical understanding of theories and principles, the last will be focused on something which we could name as “core” fields of work or study 15 . On the other hand, and simul- taneously, the same thing happens as for the case of Level 7; within diverse bachelor’s 14 ‘Want to study heritage interpretation in Europe?’ (17.07.2023) and personal research. 15 For example, archaeology, biology, conservation, environmental studies, geography, history, pedagogy, tourism studies, etc.