Do you guide people in their meaning-making? Support others to make sense of what they see or experience? Do you interpret art, nature, animals, wildlife, or cultural heritage and want to learn from others? Then this workshop might be for you!

To interpret means to “explain, translate, expound, and understand”. The question of interpretation is as old as written record. Throughout human history, in various cultural and geographical sites, interpretation is practiced by wide range of actors, for diverse purposes, and is examined for its results according to various principles: from retelling mythological narratives to maintain societal knowledge and identities across generations, to the translations of religious texts into various languages and settings, to contemporary attempts to make visible nature in climate fiction or nature interpretation.

While one could say that “anything is interpretation”, it has also been professionalized in different contexts. From museums to botanical gardens, from glacier front to historical ruins, interpretations and interpreters of all kinds are present, offering mediation and facilitation for others. Interpretation is a communicative practice that, across contexts, bears a diversity of philosophical assumptions about human beings, the relationship of facts versus experiences, or the inherent value of what is to be interpreted.

In this workshop, we aim to bring together people with a diversity of professional practices and experiences that contribute to interpret and therefore make intelligible environmental issues. Based on the participants’ experiences, we explore philosophical underpinnings, tips and tricks for “good” practice, and common problems regarding different approaches to interpretation. We invite participants to share knowledge, reflections, tips, and tricks that can help to guide emerging meaning—to all become better at what we are doing.

When? Tuesday, 20 May 2025, 10.00–15.00 (with fika at 9.30–10.00 and 15.00–15.30)

Where? SLU Uppsala, Loftets Bankettsal (Duhrevägen 8, 756 51 Uppsala)

Costs? Participation is free of charge; lunch and two fikas will be provided.

Language? The workshop language will depend on the participants, but will likely be mixed Swedish and English, depending on the preferences and capacities of the participants. Please indicate your preferences when you sign up.

I would like to join but cannot afford travel/accommodation. What shall I do? There is a limited amount of travel/accommodation bursaries available for those attending the workshop without institutional support for this. Please indicate this when you sign up.

How do I sign up? REGISTER HERE by 27 March 2025, we confirm registrations and bursaries before 3 April 2025. This confirmation is to ensure a diversity of participants in case there are more than the 30 registrations that we can accommodate at this workshop.

Who organises this? This workshop is organised by Jasmine Zhang and Malte Rödl as part of the Mistra Environmental Communication research programme. By participating in this workshop, you acknowledge that the insights you share at this workshop might be used for research purposes.

I have more questions or thoughts! Please email Malte Rödl (malte.rodl@slu.se) or Jasmine Zhang (jasmine.zhang@slu.se)!