News
2008
February 22, 2008 -
Little Red Dot, Part 2
Remember Robin Gyorgyfalvy’s quest for a little red dot at the 2007 National Scenic Byways Conference in Baltimore? She was asked to travel to China to make a presentation about byways at the International Forum on Geoparks: Interpretation and Sustainable Development. Below, read the report that was published in a US Forest Service newsletter.
By Kathy Bowman, Region 6
Robin Gyorgyfalvy, landscape architect and scenic byways program leader at Deschutes National Forest, spoke at a first-ever international interpretive conference in China this fall.
The International Forum on Interpretation and Sustainable Development in Geoparks was the first international forum about interpretation in China and was held at the Mt. Yuntaishan World geopark in the Henan Province.
The forum was sponsored by Beijing Normal University, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the National Association for Interpretation. Delegates to the forum were asked to provide recommendations to park officials and to the Chinese government on how to provide interpretive planning and environmental education for its over two million visitors per year.
Robin points out that significant places of beauty that are well designed to allow visitors to interact with nature and to have minimal impacts upon the environment are important ways to teach a respect for the land. She also notes that teaching respect for the land can be achieved through providing conservation education through environmental design. One of the keys to success is for landscape architects to facilitate and work closely with other resource specialists including interpretive naturalists, she says.
Robin has described how she worked with comprehensive interpretive plans for scenic byways and recreation site master planning for the Ray Atkeson Memorial Interpretive Trail at Sparks Lake to create a sequential visitor experience carrying a strong conservation education message in an unobtrusively accessible design.
As the former director of Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Robin applied a step-by-step comprehensive planning and design approach as absolutely necessary for successful development of new exhibits and trail improvements to accommodate disabled persons at the Lava Lands Visitor Center, and to provide all visitors with a seamless experience between the indoor exhibits and outdoor interpretive signs along trails as a way to truly become engaged with the resource.
Special places often have incredible stories to tell, notes Robin, who says these can be communicated to visitors through careful attention to site conditions, visitor needs, and providing opportunities for the visitor to interact directly with the environment. She explains that giving the visitor enough space for exploration and self-discovery is vitally important when using nature’s gifts as an outdoor setting for providing conservation education through environmental design.
Robin adds that landscape architects have the skills to be very effective in the planning and design of geoparks and interpretive sites that want to achieve a balance between conservation and sustainable development.
Seeking ways to conserve both land and culture should be the goal shared by all who want to preserve special places and special stories for future generations, she says.
Photo: A huge welcome banner greets the delegates attending the international forum at Mt. Yuntaishan World Geopark, China.
Photo: Robin (right) is pictured with international forum co-chair and PhD candidate Wei Dongying (left) from the College of Geography at Beijing Normal University.
Photo: Robin is pictured with two graduate students who are assisting with the tour of Mt. Yuntai Geopark at the Visitor Center. The students are from Beijing Normal University, one of the forum sponsors.
Photo: Robin and her husband Martin, standing next to a wave stone, are touring the Mt. Yuntai World Geopark.