The stakeholder values of Hallstatt research - Archaeology from the perspective of the public, the economy and politics

Abstract

When it comes to the topic of interaction with the so called wider public in archaeology, we usually speak of a knowledge transfer to people with a different and often lower education level than ourselves. But professional communication can achieve a lot more for us and our research. With simple tools commonly used in daily public relations work, we can create a better working environment for ourselves and establish a better protection of cultural heritage. To professionalize this tasks a profound knowledge about the stakeholders is necessary as well as an understanding of the most essential basics of communication processes. In this article the stakeholders of the Hallstatt research of the Natural History Museum Vienna provide an example to demonstrate how different the stakeholder groups, their interests, desires, problems and habits can be and how these characteristics must be taken into account if we want our stakeholders to support our work in research and conservation. Knowing the stakeholders is a prerequisite for the establishment of durable and sustainable relationships, on which archaeology in the communication age depends more and more.