The focus for the Learning City Network on Harnessing Museums, Heritage and Education is combining rich museum theory with innovative field-based practices in world-leading museum and heritage sites in order to address a recognised pan-European need for more informed, strategic and entrepreneurial professionals within the sector.
Museums and Heritage Education Engagement is the focus and defines museums as all cultural sites that interpret collections and spaces for public understanding and enjoyment. Museums today need to be many things to many people, be they visitors, museum professionals or funders and policy makers. While museums, galleries and heritage sites continue to offer opportunities for deep academic, emotional, social and physical engagement, we find ourselves in a time of political uncertainty and social transience.
The multicultural, mobile and multifaceted communities and societies in which we live demand discussion and debate around cultural identities, legacies and practices now more than ever. Learning in and learning through the museum can offer opportunities for historical contemplation and reflection on what has been, what is and what might yet be. Museums have a vital role to play in nurturing ‘the capacity for social awareness and critical reflection as a basis for personal and social change’ (UNESCO 2016 [2], 15). Museum visitors and off-site users of all ages can be encouraged to interact and engage with collections to explore and discuss pressing cultural themes such as identity, sustainability and accessibility as well as contributing to urgent environmental debates such as those around climate change and mass extinction.
People learn in varying modes – formal, non-formal and informal – when engaging with museum collections and the 21st century Museum, Heritage and Education professional has a vital role to play in effectively facilitating requirements for a broad and complex range of needs and preferences.
The term “Cultural Literacy” is an analytical tool defined for example as the ability to understand & participate fluently in a given culture and understanding connections between, and complexity, of cultural artefacts & activities. There are different needs in the relation between cultural literacy and cultural policy are such as:
- Encourage broad cultural perspectives through open discussions & sharing of practices
- Should celebrate difference & support approaches/ ideas that transcend a narrow viewpoint
- Involve multiple voices of practitioners & professionals
- Should be aware of implications for education & implications for learning (formal/non-formal/informal) should be central to all cultural policy development
- Should reflect the human element
Cultural literacies is one type of literacy which is most often left out of the whole group of different literacies seen as different life wide literacies:
- Reading
- Writing
- Financial
- Health
- Digital & Data
- Environmental
- Scientific
- Political
- Cultural
Life wide literacies can lead to potential life outcomes such as:
- Educational achievement
- Future income
- General physical & mental health
The point here is that cultural literacy is as important that the rest of the different literacies to achieve positive life outcomes. To meet such challenge effectively requires the professionals and stakeholders to demonstrate a varied and extensive skill set that reflects an understanding in a new and evolving era. Interpretation and object handling, exhibition planning, innovations in technologies, policy development, inclusive practices, cultural identity, storytelling and economic sustainability are all required areas if we are to be aptly and ably equipped today.
Until now, there has been no concerted initiative to provide an international post-graduate higher education programme with museums, heritage and education at its core and which brings together international experts in humanities, education and social sciences to integrate these essential disciplines. This intellectual space is what this LCN will innovatively offer by addressing through research and practice, the interlinked social, economic and environmental challenges facing us all.
The LCN is interdisciplinary in nature, characterised by existing strengths in cultural politics and policy; tangible and intangible heritage; anthropology and ethnology, pedagogy and curriculum development, and exhibition design and interpretation, all of which will be viewed through educational and sociological lenses
We draw on the potential of active global networks that include recognised experts from within all the CPUs: for example Hanneke Grootenboer, Prof of the History of Art at RU and the recipient of prestigious fellowships including of the Clark Art Institute, the Leverhulme Trust and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Amsterdam; Alison Phipps, Prof of Languages & Intercultural Studies at UoG, where she leads GRAMNet (Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network), conducting research and qualitative evaluation on migration, refugees and the asylum process and consulting on migration-related policy in the UK and internationally, and Prof Bob Davis, Co-director UoG Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change [3], which aims to promote more equitable education systems through theory-driven, applied research underpinned by a commitment to the principles of social justice and lifelong learning. The LCN also benefits from initiatives such as the EMA’s Micheletti Award [4] which highlights the best museum practice in scientific, industrial and technical museums, museums of political and social history, in co-operation with the Micheletti Foundation and associations in the immediate localities of partners (for example, the research group: Housing Heritage: Exploring, theorising and problematising multiple kinds of heritage making [5] at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, which brings academics and practitioners together to research and debate key questions around heritage, and the UNESCO Chair on Applied Studies of Intangible Heritage at UT and UT’s extensive collaboration with the award-winning Estonian National Museum) see 3.1 for full list of experts.
The LCN provides the opportunity for scholars from all over Europe to consolidate networks and collaborations. In addition, the LCN extends the theoretical perspectives to where practices can be observed in action and explored. We hope for the LCN to be designed to provide the opportunity to address the challenge of balancing the traditional diversity among museums – art, cultural history, natural history, science – and the dominating themes in museum daily life today such as developing new models for financing, shaping intercultural identities and contributing to social cohesion.
The commonalities derive from a shared focus on the ways in which the historical, social and cultural institutions (family, community, school, government) in each country have constructed spaces. But there are differences too and exploring those variations will be a key learning outcome. Underpinning Museum, Heritage and Education is a strong belief in social justice for all visitors and professionals in whatever context the experience may be contextualised, professionally and geographically, hence the strong shared commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Throughout Europe the pressures are predominantly financial, which have led to staff cuts, restructuring, hybrid jobs (e.g. collections & education), changes of governance, disposal/sale of assets and even closures: this is why Museums, Heritage and Education organisations are considering different business models. There is also a joint interest in analysing how institutions are changing, particularly in view of global and technological developments. The LCN thus creates an authentic multidisciplinary yet common and integrated holistic approach which establishes a broad framework of current museum and heritage themes. At the same time, the LCN will acknowledge and examine the central challenges that are faced by Museums, Heritage and Education professionals when planning and implementing the engagement of people with collections and spaces: agency and power, social cohesion and exclusion in terms of gender, race, culture, language, cultural capital, (dis)ability and sexuality. It will interrogate controversial issues such as cultural identity, intellectual, financial and physical access, consumerism, sustainability and the use of digital technologies, while noting that these are contingent to particular contexts. The pillars of expertise behind the course structure thus create a strong platform for the common and integrated approach of the consortium. This approach reflects current theory and research as well as the challenges and controversies around Museums, Heritage and Education through the following overarching themes represented in each semester: historical, social and cultural perspectives.
Museums, Heritage and Education is about acknowledging the important role of collections and historic sites in shaping and informing our knowledge of society; past, present and future. It is about identifying innovative ways to engage people of all ages with objects and spaces that can inform an understanding of shared and distinctive identities, rituals and traditions.
We aim is to build on interests and experiences related to Museums, Heritage and Education in order to deepen their knowledge of the expanding intersection of the associated fields of representation, folklore and cultural identity, access and inclusion, interpretation and display, digital heritage, tourism, entrepreneurship and sustainability within an international perspective and to provide opportunities for students to consider how this understanding can be applied to different and (often rapidly) changing contexts of practice, with new business models for Museums, Heritage and Education and new demands for sustainability. The LCN will bring together scholars and practitioners who are motivated by the need to understand and improve the ways in which the public interact with museum collections and spaces and who will provide a theoretical grounding that includes historical, physical, cultural, educational and digital-related frameworks. They will also offer opportunities to students to acquire and develop practical skills for professional application through at least one or more placements in museums and historic environments. The LCN Objectives are:
- Offer an integrated, international and coherent platform that explores the social, historical, cultural and physical contexts of museums as sites and sources as well as critical methodologies through which to evaluate and critique the corpus of Museums, Heritage and Education literature, research and policy.
- Examine and discuss the political challenges that museums face when cultivating their resources for knowledge development/exchange and identity formation based on the meeting between regional/national, European and global values.
- Share, examine and discuss the practical and ethical implications of new business models for museums through hands on experiences of organisations learning to respond, adapt, gain influence and remain relevant in a rapidly evolving world.
- Share, examine and discuss the practical and political implications and challenges which surface when a museum exploits its potential for sustainable engagement, social cohesion, intercultural dialogue, social change and the impact this has on public engagement and learning.
- Contribute to the reflection on commonalities and differences in terms of location, audiences, organisational structure, funding, values and priorities, across a broad range of museum types and in different countries.
- Broaden and deepen the critical understanding of the implications when using different collections and spaces for exhibition work and the relation to access, lifelong learning and participatory governance.
- Broaden and deepen critical understanding of the implications of making collections accessible through digital means and the impact on accessibility to learning and engagement.
The cross-fertilization of different knowledge and capabilities offered by participants will ensure that the impact of this LCN far exceeds the sum of its parts, deepening the understanding and professional expertise of researchers, professionals, students and stakeholders alike. The academic pathways offered by the awarding partners are characterised by a shared commitment to 21st century Museums, Heritage and Education values, objectives and practices, but their distinct specialisms enable a deeper discussions on of sub-themes such as designing the museum curriculum for environmental sustainability (The Museum as a Source for Learning); the relationship between rights and responsibilities (Heritage and Cultural Policies); exploring issues of social justice, diversity and equality (Creative Industries); Museums, Heritage and Education in a troubled world (Heritage Conflict and Culture), and inclusive practice (Representation, Access and Difference). The intertwining of academic analysis and practical engagement will provide a range of skills and experiences that help to develop active and informed stakeholders to play a desisive role in meeting urgent challenges that face us all such as climate change, migration, financial uncertainty and the rise of populism.
Catherine Lido, Maggie Jago and Henrik Zipsane