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Ancient Times in the Baltic Sea Region: integrated concepts for edutainment and sustainable tourism by using cultural heritage sites (Ancient Times)
Start date: Mar 2, 2003, End date: May 1, 2006 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Cultural heritage, history and traditions play a mayor role in tourism development. Today tourists are often looking for qualitative offers and a combination between study tours and entertainment. The objective of the Ancient Times project was to preserve and further develop cultural heritage sites of the participating partners according to visitors' demands and in an ecological way. The aim was also to strengthen the image of the participating cities and regions. In addition, the project intended to open the eyes of the public for ancient times in the BSR including the link between cultures. Visitors were to be educated and entertained with the aim to create unique experiences. Development of professional visitor management methods in order to guarantee a certain quality level and the protection of the sites was also an important objective. The main themes covered by the project were research, preservation, time travelling, experimental archaeology and marketing & product development. Achievements: At a research seminar on trade from the Viking Age until today exchange of knowledge from different time periods helped to clarify the picture of former trade routes within the Baltic Sea. The former trade routes were presented in the final report and some of the partners used the new information when developing their exhibitions. Results from research work were also used both in the reconstruction projects and in developments of events for the public. For instance, knowledge on how to make medieval paints and colours was used in the reconstruction of a medieval merchant house from the 15th century in Nyköbing, Denmark. Reconstruction of historic houses and environments including the authentic ancient-style furnishing and design formed an integrated and important part of the project work.Time travelling gives the visitor to historical/cultural heritage sites an opportunity to experience the past in an authentic way. Several time travelling concepts were developed. The concepts were tested and incorporated into the offers of the project partners. As a basis for the development of time travelling the project partners carried out activities of experimental archaeology. Examples of such activities are; plant dyeing, tanning, blacksmithing and woodcarving. A joint arrangement catalogue and “magalogue” describing the offers of the partners including their time travelling concepts were published. Furthermore a digital travel exhibition describing the features of the project partners and their activities was compiled in the final phase of the project. A common Corporate Design, information flyers and exhibition material have also been produced. All partners exchanged knowledge and discussed their marketing strategies and target groups.In order to promote the preservation of cultural heritage sites examples of specific site development plans and management plan were made.During the project the partners developed new historic events such as medieval markets, tournaments etc. with an aim of including these in the annual activity programmes of the sites.As a final product an informative CD presenting the main activities and outputs was produced and distributed to main interest groups. The transnational work such as summaries of seminars, workshops and study trips was also included on the CD. One concrete result of the transnational work was a checklist or quality standards for improving the performance of the open air museums forming the network of Ancient Times.
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  • 44.5%   723 834,85
  • 2000 - 2006 Baltic Sea Region
  • Project on KEEP Platform
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28 Partners Participants