At the Ajdovščina Adult Education Centre (Ljudska univerza Ajdovščina), we organised two training events as part of the BEroots – Between Rivers and Lagoons: Artistic Routes project, co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg VI-A Italy–Slovenia Programme. The events were designed to promote a deeper understanding of cultural heritage and explore contemporary approaches to presenting it to visitors.
The first training event, entitled How Artificial Intelligence and Canva Help Create a Consistent Tourism Story, was aimed at tourism providers, tourist guides, cultural workers, and others involved in preparing promotional content. Participants explored the possibilities of using artificial intelligence for creating tourism-related texts and learned how to use Canva to design visually coherent promotional materials. Through practical exercises, they tested ChatGPT and Gemini, developed texts for presenting tourism products and services, and created draft promotional materials. Particular attention was given to combining content and visual communication, as visitors often form their first impression of a destination through photographs, texts, and other promotional materials.
The second lecture, entitled On the Origins of the Slovenian National Anthem, took participants back to the period in which one of Slovenia’s most important literary works was created. The lecture was delivered by Prof. Dr. Dr. Igor Grdina, historian, literary historian, and research counsellor at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU). He presented the historical and social context in which France Prešeren’s Zdravljica was written, its path to becoming the national anthem, and its significance today. Special attention was devoted to the symbolism of individual verses and the role of Zdravljica in shaping Slovenian cultural identity.
Both educational events contributed to the objectives of the BEroots project, which promotes connections between cultural heritage, art, and contemporary approaches to interpreting places and stories. The project enables partners to develop new knowledge and approaches that help make cultural heritage more accessible, understandable, and engaging for diverse groups of visitors.
