The document discusses the concept of public value and how museums can create public value. It introduces several key principles: (1) the role of government in proactively shaping public spheres, (2) museum leaders as stewards of public assets who direct them to benefit communities, and (3) the public as both recipients and co-creators of public value. It then outlines components of public value including the authorizing environment, operational environment, and public value itself. It also discusses evaluating public value based on factors like civic engagement and understanding multiple perspectives. Examples are given showing how museums have increased public understanding of difficult historical issues. The document emphasizes that for organizations to truly create public value, the values and standards must be authorized

1. Museums and Public Value
Dr Carol Scott
29th
April 2014

2. Principles
• The role of government in society –‘not just as a rule-setter,
service-provider and social safety net, but potentially as a
creator of public value and a pro-active shaper of the public sphere
(politically, economically, socially and culturally)’ (Moore and
Benington, 2011,3)
• The role for leaders of public sector agencies as ‘proactive
stewards of public assets’, (Moore and Benington, 2011,3) directing
those assets purposefully to make ‘a positive difference in the lives
of individuals and communities’ (Moore and Moore 2005, 17) and
working with governments to discover what difference that could be.
• The public as citizens who are recipients of Public Value but who
are also co-producers and authorisers of it.
• The creation of public value as proactive and intentional.

3. Strategic triangle

4. Components
1. Authorising environment
2. Operational environment
3. Public value
...the source of legitimacy for public funding as being
the public itself, overturns the concept of centrally
driven, top-down delivery and replaces it with systemic,
grass roots value creation (Holden, 2004:10)

5. Public value
 Additional
 Intentional and proactive
 Public sphere
 Social needs
 Citizens

6. Institutional value
 Purpose
 Uniqueness
 Difference
 Impact
 Feasible

7. Evaluating public value
To what extent do the museum’s activities
• enhance public awareness and understanding of civic
issues?
• increase participants’ sense of self-efficacy and
collective efficacy to take action?
• enhance quality of, and capacity for, civic dialogue?
• contribute to understanding and appreciating multiple
perspectives? (Munley, in Scott 2013)

8. Abolition of slavery 2007
• We cannot change the horrible things we have done in
the past but we can make up for it in the future (Spence
et al in Scott, 2013, 108)
• We’d look at objects, slave whips…I was quite shocked,
I knew it was cruel but I didn’t know how cruel, I never
could imagine… I thought about it in a different way. We
actually got to see it and experience what it would have
been like. I did know quite a lot but I wasn’t able to
picture it (Dodd et al, 2004, 29)

9. The public in public value
If organisations are to create public value
in their practices and use evaluative
standards to measure their performance,
then those values and evaluative
standards must be authorised by the
public (Blaug, Horner & Lehki 2006:7)

10. Strategic triangle 1995

11. Strategic triangle 2014 (Scott)

12. THANK YOU