Workshops at NEMO's European Museum Conference 2024

Timeout is a new way to generate and engage in constructive dialogue. It can be used whenever a deeper understanding of a topic or an equal encounter is needed – for instance, as part of preparations, decision-making or bringing different people together. Museums can use it as part of their democracy work and to develop museums’ own exhibition activities. It will also open up possibilities for museums to act as arenas for democracy and civil discourse.

In this workshop, we will go through the steps of the Timeout dialogue and also try out the dialogue method – the best way to learn it is to try it yourself. We will step out of our roles as museum professionals and engage in an equal dialogue, sharing our own experiences and learning from each other.

In today’s polarised societies, museums can act as powerful agents of social change, challenging discrimination and fostering community connections. The International Coalition of Sites of Conscience - Europe (ICSC-Europe) will host a workshop based on its Correcting the Record methodology, designed to help museums and heritage sites increase their social impact. Participants will strengthen their skills in conducting self-assessments to ensure inclusive practices, co-create with marginalized communities, and interpret collections equitably.

The workshop will offer a reflective and peer-to-peer exchange space, focusing on how museums can engage in difficult conversations about contested histories, rebuild trust with underrepresented groups, and challenge discriminatory narratives. Ultimately, the session will highlight the vital role museums play in promoting social justice and democratic values in an increasingly divided world.

Museums face complex issues like diversity, accessibility, and equality. Addressing these requires a unified strategy across departments, but siloed structures often prevent collaboration. Unfortunately, many museums are structured in silos, with teams operating independently. This fragmentation hinders collaboration and makes it difficult to develop a cohesive approach to these complex issues. Furthermore, "futures thinking" often happens at the leadership level, with strategic plans crafted in isolation from the day-to-day operations and the teams who actually deliver public-facing experiences. This disconnect leads to well-intentioned strategies that fail to translate into effective action. This dynamic workshop tackles these issues head-on. It empowers cultural workers with design methods and tools to foster collaboration across departments. Additionally, the workshop provides Futures Design stimuli, prompting reflection on the role of digital tools and diversity in museums' future. The format offers both debate and discovery, with discussions and hands-on exercises applying design methods to a future-world museum challenge.

Can we talk about precarious employment in the museum sector and its impact on working with marginalised communities and sensitive histories? We invite you to join a workshop facilitated by the National Museum of Ireland’s Sensitive Histories Group. We consider the museums' potential for driving positive change and its capability to be transformative, harmful, or healing. Throughout the session we will be mindful of the practicalities of doing this work in museums for precarious workers. By gaining an understanding of the ecology of museum workers in Europe, we endeavour to strengthen relationships with communities and have a positive societal impact. 

This workshop explores the growing tension between museums’ pursuit of social relevance and the influence of political boards and government bodies. While museums in Belgium and the Netherlands increasingly aim to contribute social value, their interpretations often differ from those of politicians and governmental departments, raising concerns about autonomy in decision-making.The workshop will begin with an overview of how museums in Belgium and the Netherlands strive for autonomy and build stable relationships with their authorities and funders. Participants will learn from both successful examples and cases where autonomy has been threatened. Facilitators will also introduce strategies and tools to maintain open dialogue with political entities. Participants will be invited to share their own experiences in maintaining dialogue and autonomy, reflecting on successes and challenges.

Please note that this workshop is only open to national museum umbrella organisations and that the registrants’ eligibility will be verified.

Museums have developed a strong foundation for how they deliver audience experiences over the last decades. But how do you design and deliver experiences for audiences that don’t feel represented (or welcome) in a museum’s space? 

Join this hands-on workshop to investigate ways to conduct audience research with underrepresented groups in a way that captures their voices and brings their needs to the forefront. You will leave with a developed audience research plan and an understanding of how to conduct the research and implement the actionable insights into developing new and meaningful visitor experiences.

This workshop is organised by the NEMO Working Group Digital Transformation.

Although the concept of sustainable museum has been debated for several years, many museums struggle to quantify their progress in becoming sustainable. Adopting a holistic approach to sustainability in museums is also challenging. Measures taken to protect cultural heritage sometimes interfere with a museum’s goals of becoming environmentally, socially, or economically sustainable. Therefore, measuring the sustainability progress of a museum on each of the four dimensions, but also globally, is of great importance. Based on these considerations, this workshop will guide participants to define and calculate practical indicators specific to museums’ environmental, cultural, social and economic sustainability. Examples will be used to demonstrate how to determine various indicators, as well as how to aggregate the values of those indicators to assess the overall sustainability of a museum.

This workshop is organised by the NEMO Working Group Sustainability and Climate Action.

The workshop will focus on GEM’s approach to delivering training relating to equality, diversity and inclusion, in an accessible and ethical way, sharing methodologies and approaches to planning and delivery. The session will focus on how GEM encourages the democratisation of museums through encouraging engagement with underrepresented groups.

The workshop will focus on GEM’s role as a sector support organisation and its approach to training which builds confidence and skills so museum learning professionals can approach difficult and triggering topics with their audiences in a safe, positive and ethical way. The workshop will explore how the sector needs to be responding to relevant socio-political issues, creating much needed interventions in order for museums to be more democratic welcoming spaces.

Delegates will be asked to consider training needs in supported activities and discussions leading to an action plan so the workshop inspires positive change that will lead to improved audience inclusion.

This workshop is organised by the NEMO Working Group LEM - the Learning Museum.