Tag: interpretive planning

Museums Change Lives (or do they?)

This Monday past I went to the launch of the UK Museums Association’s ‘Museums Change Lives’ vision document.  And I will say that as ever, it is nice to hear and read a good few confident assertions of why our work as (museums) professionals actually matters.   And it is good to have a large organisation … Continue reading Museums Change Lives (or do they?) →

Impressions from the IE/NAI Interpretation Conference in Sweden

I spent this week at the joint Interpret Europe/National Association for Interpretation conference in Sweden.  The conference theme was global citizenship, but probably due to my own interests, I ended up hearing mostly papers on stakeholder engagement [1]. Here are a few impressions and thoughts that I’ve had during the conference – no doubt I’ll … Continue reading Impressions from the IE/NAI Interpretation Conference in Sweden →

So how about interpreting mutual understanding?

Next month I’ll be presenting a paper at the NAI/IE joint conference entitled ‘Interpretation can make us citizens of the world’ in Sweden. I’m really looking forward to what people will say about this topic.  As I’ve reported in my last blog post, only one couple out of the 100+ people I’ve interviewed so far … Continue reading So how about interpreting mutual understanding? →

 Museums 2020 and the Public: Not quite in harmony

Last week, the UK Museums Association published the research report into what the public think are the purposes of museums. I’ve blogged about the announcement of the research, and especially the brief for it, here.   I was particularly interested in their methodology [1].  My concerns were that the framework established in the brief would … Continue reading  Museums 2020 and the Public: Not quite in harmony →

Visitor Experiences of Co-produced Exhibitions

Last week I attended an excellent workshop on ‘Visitor Experiences of Co-produced Exhibitions’.  Co-production is a central theme in museums at the moment, and participants were encouraged to bring their own experiences of co-production to the workshop for discussion.  I came away with a few good points to ponder, which you might find interesting as … Continue reading Visitor Experiences of Co-produced Exhibitions →

News programmes, not feature films, Or: Should we ditch permanent exhibitions?

I was quite intrigued by the lead article in the current edition of the Museums Journal [1].  In essence, the article asks whether we should move away from permanent exhibitions, using the number of visitors, and of repeat visits in particular, as the yardstick by which to measure value for money when it comes to … Continue reading News programmes, not feature films, Or: Should we ditch permanent exhibitions? →

A Truly Democratic Model for Interpretation

Last week, I had a meeting with our Interpretation Stakeholder Group.  We discussed the interpretive vision for a project to relocate and redevelop one of our museums.  And what an interesting discussion it was!  As always, the most inspiring comments came from people who aren’t interpreters. The first thing that struck me was just how … Continue reading A Truly Democratic Model for Interpretation →

Involving stakeholders in interpretation, Or: policy aspiration and practice challenges

Next week sees the For Them and By Them: Involving Stakeholders and Communities in Interpretation conference take place, which I initiated.  I am no longer able to be at the conference myself, so I thought I’d share here what I was going to talk about there [1]. It is really quite astonishing to see just … Continue reading Involving stakeholders in interpretation, Or: policy aspiration and practice challenges →

Good-bye Bedwellty, Or: What I’ve learnt in my last job

Tomorrow I will start in my new job and I thought that’s a good time to reflect on what I learnt in my last role.  So here we go, in no particular order:   It’s key to understand the heritage values I started with a deeply felt commitment to inclusive significance assessments.  What this job … Continue reading Good-bye Bedwellty, Or: What I’ve learnt in my last job →