| Interpretation
| Attention Teachers:
Kananaskis Country interpretive programs have delighted
summer park visitors for 25 years—have toured
to more than 80,000 students and teachers across Alberta
in the past years!
Check here for our dedicated Web page on Kananaskis
in the Classroom!
|
Top of page
Throughout
the summer, enthusiastic and talented interpreters bring
nature to life with music, drama, and dance. A fact-filled
hour swiftly passes as you laugh and catch your breath in
delight. Action, entertainment, and natural history information
are subtly woven together in a magical blend of Kananaskis
Country-style interpretation. Young and old alike are drawn
into the spell of the program.
Through captivating evening amphitheatre
programs, guided walks, new KananACTIVE!
family programs, and one-on-one explorations, our interpretive
staff will put you in touch with the natural world. Connections
between the tangible and the intangible are forged—and
suddenly you have a new insight into today’s environmental
issues. Evening amphitheatre programs educate visitors about
our mountain environment by using drama, music, and dance.
Lively and entertaining, the storylines may include topics
ranging from flying squirrels to glacier lilies to grizzly
bears. Expect the unexpected in these oftentimes, wacky but
informative programs. Our audiences keep coming back for more,
as every season is alive with new shows.
Although all programs are free, donations can be made to the
The Friends
of Kananaskis Country, a non-profit charitable
society that helps to support our interpretive programs in
a number of ways from providing funding for resource materials,
repairs and upgrades to sound systems, taxidermy work for
hides to even producing a new CD!
Guided walks provide visitors with the opportunity to join
one of our park interpreters on an experience to learn first-hand
about the natural environment. From birdwatching to flower
identification, participants gain insights into our natural
world—while having fun.
Family programs provide hands-on learning experiences for
the entire family. All are designed for active play while
learning about the Kananaskis environment and its inhabitants.
Topics are as varied as they are exciting; from bear research
and telemetry to mountain pine beetle infestations in our
lodgepole pine forests.
Throughout the summer, visitors
find opportunities to meet and chat with park interpreters
one-on-one at select trailheads, day use areas, and visitor
centres. Visitors found them with all sorts of natural history
items, ready to talk about topics as varied as horns and antlers,
fossils, or the wild dogs of Kananaskis. These are great opportunities
for inquisitive visitors to ask those questions they were
always wondering about…but were afraid to ask! (And interpreters
do love to talk!)
The excellence of Kananaskis
Country’s interpretive theatre programs has long been
recognized by both visitors and professional organizations.
Numerous National awards have been earned in recognition of
the quality of these programs.
You can learn more about the field of interpretation, interpretive
training, publications, and certification, by visiting the
web sites of professional organizations such as
Interpretation Canada,
The
National Association of Interpretation, and
The
Alberta Museums Association. The Mountain
Parks Heritage Interpretation Association also
offers a certification program; and a set of professional
standards and information on certification is available from
the Alberta Tourism Education Council. Contact Noreen at noreeno@atec.ca
For further information about the
interpretive programs in Kananaskis Country, please contact:
Claudette Landry (Claudette.Landry@gov.ab.ca)
Interpretive Supervisor
Tourism, Parks & Recreation
Peter Lougheed Provincial Park
Box 130, Kananaskis Village
Alberta, Canada T0L 2H0
Phone: (403) 591-6319.
Toll-free in Alberta: dial 310-0000 first
|
