Samenvatting

The Dutch and German Wadden Sea Area received the World Heritage status in 2009 because of its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) which embodies: cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity. Denmark received this status in 2014. Since the beginning of the World Heritage status, the International Wadden Sea School (IWSS) aims to educate visitors of the Wadden Sea Area on the importance of this special area (IWSS, n.d.). A key challenge has been to link the concept of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) in a consistent manner to the visitors of the area (personal communication, 18 November 2019). The IWSS would like to have an overview on what the visitor centres in all three countries communicate about the OUV as well as how they communicate this and would also like to see so-called ‘good stories’ from the educationalists in different centres. ‘Good stories’ are examples of successful ways to conveying the message of the OUV. This led to the following research question: ‘What and how do the different visitor centres communicate about the Outstanding Universal Value of the Wadden Sea World Heritage to their different target groups and which ‘good stories’ exist that communicates this value?’ Of the 60 online surveys that were send-out to the visitor centres, 22 were filled in. Based on these 22 surveys, the ones with good stories were selected for an interview. Based on these interviews, their survey answers and literature research, the following can be concluded: most of the visitor centres communicate one or more criteria of the OUV. The message that the centres want to bring across is mainly to let people experience the beauty of the Wadden Sea area and its surrounding environment. Tours are the most used medium to accomplish this. A lot of information is also shared during verbal presentations and using film and flyers. Different centres have different good stories, there is not just one good story that conveys all of the OUV aspects. Most centres have a need for one analogous story conveying the OUV. After this research, it is recommended to gather more data about the specifics of the existing good stories and hereby also look into the situation in Denmark. The visitors of the centres should be asked for feedback more frequently and more meetings should take place withing the IWSS.