How museums can engage their audiences and work together with them on Sustainable Development Goals, based on their core Values and storytelling, by using the GIVE-model

1. look, tell, listen, ask, reflect…
наблюдай, рассказывай, слушай, спрашивай, размышляй…
' T h e f u t u r e i s a l r e a d y h e r e — i t ' s j u s t n o t v e r y e v e n l y d i s t r i b u t e d '
W i l l i a m F o r d G i b s o n
Тео Мееребур

2. 0. THE 21st CENTURY PARADIGM
our reaction to an era of dramatic changes

3. the 20th Century came with rapid and disrupting changes in society and culture
Arnhem, *1912-1918 Skansen,*1991

4. the 21st Century again comes with great challenges.
How to facilitate an answer?
How students approach complex
challenges
How students apply core skills to
everyday tasks
How students approach their changing
environment
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5. http://newleaf-llc.com/2013/07/defining-
sustainability-triple-bottom-line/
http://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/
ibr/2011/spring/article2.html
challenges: Triple Bottom Line (TBL)

6. VALUE
cultural +
societal
meaning
Triple Bottom Line (TBL) #2: from profit to value

7. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

8. idea + strategy, making heritage relevant for nowadays audiences, engaging difficult audiences, embracing challenges.
any kind of museum can work on sustainable development goals

9. motivation opportunitycapability
3 elements of 'change' in behaviour
The COM-B system - a framework for understanding behaviour, (altered by Meereboer, T., 2017)
Ripple L., Motivation, Capacity, and Opportunity as Related to the Use of Casework Service: Theoretical Base and Plan of Study, Social
Service Review
Vol. 29, No. 2 (Jun., 1955), pp. 172-193
and: Michie et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd., 2011
Published online 2011 Apr 23, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3096582/figure/F1/ via https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pmc/articles/PMC3096582/
capacity
change -> transition

10. 1. THE MUSEUMS OF NOWADAYS FUTURE
dynamic heritage as a proces of transition & identity

11. museums: from preserving nostalgia to promoting cultural action

12. Ivoss: MoluksebarakNederlandsOpenluchtmuseum.JPG
“If you want a safe haven,
don’t work in a museum”
David Fleming, in a conversation with students from the
Reinwardt Academy
social & active in museums: from disputed to discussed

13. value: everlasting issues for heritage institutions
• budget : which means value, in terms of financial support, income,
business model, but also mental support, relations, interest (also:
source community, support, etc.)
• knowledge: research, knowledge building, knowledge storage,
knowledge transfer, professionalism of volunteers, preventing a
braindrain, etc.
• relevancy: what is the museum about, why should you care, what
does it mean to you at this very moment, why should we care, how
can we support, co-create?

14. from
task & project
to
role &
process?• decription
• facts
• material
• usage
• origin
can a museum do something else with/without a collection?

15. Curator 1 Curator 2 Curator 3 Curator 4 etc.
director
Collections-based Museum
Mission: best collections
museum revolutions -> transitions

16. Functions-based Museum
Conservation
Preservation Research
Collections
Exhibitions Education
Communication
director
Outreach Special needs
Documentation online
Mission: best functions
museum revolutions -> transitions

17. Mission: best purpose
board
sponsorspartners
director
collection
education programming presentation
communication relations development
special needs
social programs
training
wellbeing
co-creation
co-production
sustainability
prototyping
Values-based Museum
museum revolutions -> transitions

18. Transmissie:
- lineair (hoogstens plus feedback)
- er is een boodschap!
- zender/ontvanger
- ‘kennis’ is objectief
- de zender is wijs en alwetend
- de ontvanger is leeg + dom
- ‘deficit model’
museum revolutions -> transitions

19. Transmissie:
- lineair (hoogstens plus feedback)
- er is een boodschap!
- zender/ontvanger
- ‘kennis’ is objectief
- de zender is wijs en alwetend
- de ontvanger is leeg + dom
- ‘deficit model’
PARTICIPATORY
PEOPLE
+ PARTICIPATORY
PARTNERS
museum revolutions -> transitions

20. How about climate & culture?
https://sustainablemuseums.net/

21. "gradually the concept of socially responsible museum (Janes 2007:
141) is replaced by the concept of socially purposeful museum
(Leicester School of Museum Studies 2012): "a dynamic, vital
institution, that has rich relationships with diverse audiences that
nurtures participatory and co-creative practice and is part of people's
everyday lives; that seeks to foster progressive social values and, at
the same time, is widely recognised as a site for dialogue and debate
[…]"
(van Mensch and Meijer van Mensch 2015)
new museology and social activism

22. "Only a decade ago, the notion that museums, galleries and heritage
organisations might engage in activist practice, with explicit intent to
act upon inequalities, injustices and environmental crises, was met
with scepticism and often derision. Seeking to purposefully bring
about social change was viewed by many within and beyond the
museum community as inappropriately political and antithetical to
fundamental professional values. Today, although the idea remains
controversial, the way we think about the roles and responsibilities of
museums as knowledge based, social institutions is
changing. Museum Activism examines the increasing significance of
this activist trend in thinking and practice. […] wide-ranging
examination of new and divergent expressions of the inherent power
of museums as forces for good, and as activists in civil society, aims to
encourage further experimentation and enrich the debate in this
nascent and uncertain field of museum practice[…]"
(Edited by Robert R. Janes, Richard Sandell, 2019)
https://www.routledge.com/Museum-Activism/Janes-Sandell/p/book/9780815369974?fbclid=IwAR1rk-
eiAW6uXqJXDYscc1xwjj4rsld5XmCGIBAG4JZ19O3aHxvdTKq1Zv4
new museology and social activism

23. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/books/review/jonathan-franzen-reviews-sherry-turkle-reclaiming-conversation.html
https://www.inexhibit.com/case-studies/virtual-museums-part-2-today-and-beyond/
from virtuality (back) to real life conversations; human relations as a value?

24. foto via Dyonna Bennett
emotions & interaction in museums: from prejudice to perspectives &
interest; multi-perspectivity

25. perspectives on dynamic heritage
"The definition of heritage is dynamic, changing both over time and as the
public’s appreciation changes. As a result, frameworks and methods of
evaluation cannot remain static."
Cultural Heritage Agency / Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands
“At a time when the international community is discussing future development
goals, numerous efforts are focused on putting culture at the heart of the
global development agenda. Culture, in its manifold expressions ranging from
cultural heritage to cultural and creative industries and cultural tourism, is both
an enabler and a driver of the economic, social and environmental dimensions
of sustainable development.”
UNESCO

26. my perspective on museums
• museums are about people and the things they make, value and find relevant in the
context of their society. Therefore museums should enhance diversity, inclusivesness,
representating plural voices.
• museums are meeting places, whether it is presentations, programming,
communication (media) or education, we need to design the social interaction.
• museums are about society and the questions within: what's going on, how to
understand our world and make it a better place?
• museums have a societal role and should be active in society, not just being
responsible, but contribute actively, embrace good causes and even take the lead;
which could also be presenting art in the best possible way together with offering art
literacy
• museums are about what happens now, intertwining past and future; therefore
museums need to be able to build bridges. One of their main purposes is to restore
relations or create new ones.
• museums are storytelling hubs and by nature transmedial, this requires multi-layered
stories; without narrative, storytellers and listeners there's no museum.
• museums need to be and think excentric…

27. questions?
?

28. I have a question for you:
what are we going to earn?

29. 2. GOOD CAUSE GOOD PRACTICE
make a connection, restore the relation

30. good practice: companies taking cultural responsibility

31. good practice: big companies taking responsibility
if companies show the
way and take
responsibility (and they
know their audiences),
museums should care as
well, and do the same.
Together they can build
trust, 'earn' respect,
attention, restore
relations, instill moral
values and make things
happen for the better.

32. and what if museums do not care?

33. what if museums do care:

34. what if museums do care:

35. Museon: responsible about sustainability

36. Museon: responsible about sustainability
Main Exhibition One Planet – 17 SDG’s + Innovation
Taskforce employees - Green Key Gold – Waterless Urinoirs – Bio-foods –
Recycling – FSC materials – Stimulating public transport - Solar Panels 2x -
Green Roof (future) – temp. Regulation – Softs – Geo-termal source (future);

37. what if museums do care, about wellbeing?
wellbeing
according to
Jenny Wedgbury

38. what if heritage can bring peace, instead of exclusion?

39. what if heritage can build bridges, instead of separating cultures?

40. 3. STORYTELLING
build bridges: "make me care"

41. s t o r y t e l l i n g as an act of c o - c r e a t i o n
Inside Outside
tradition/
confirmation
meaning & understanding
union/
negotiation
sensitiveissues
interpretation
ambition/
dreams
collection theme/narrative education
engagement
We
(museum)
They
(audience)
assets co-created value gains&pains
post-present present present-future
History Horizon
Truth Drama
facts authenticity experience
representation
inclusion
support
storytelling as a bridge
values valuesmorality / ethics

42. Storytelling gears: opportunities for cooperation
(heritage)
dialogue
oral history
(marketing)
communication
grand narratives
storyline
development
education
corporate
storytelling
story building /
meaning making
memory /
memorials
entertainment
social
(inclusion,
representation)
travel stories
/ blogs /
social media
narrative
space

43. storytelling = dialogue, multiperspectivity, representation, meaning making
if the audience co-creates the meaning
what does that mean for creating media?

44. https://www.britanniaminemuseum.ca/Blog/museums-can-encourage-social-interaction
it is easy: storytelling = social interaction

45. storytelling = dialogue, multiperspectivity, representation, meaning making
telling the story from 4 different perspectives, even the disputed ones

46. multivocality: Black, Hourston Hanks, Witcomb

47. experience & exchange in museums: from conversation to connection-
multi-vocality, who is talking about what, which values are being debated?
foto via Dyonna Bennettfoto via Dyonna Bennett

48. storytelling + interaction: from facts to acting

49. Experience Design 1.1 (2009) A Manifesto for the Design of Experiences By Nathan Shedroff
meaning making;
Lois H. Silverman >>
"understanding visitor experiences, the paradigm illuminates the
visitor's active role in creating meaning of a museum experience
through the context he/she brings, influenced by the factors of self-
identity, companions, and leisure motivations. As a result, visitors
find personal significance within museums in a range of patterned
ways that reflect basic human needs, such as the need for
individualism and the need for community.
The dynamics of visitor meaning-making indicate the importance of
fashioning a better “fit” between people and museums in two critical
areas:
(1) between human meaning-making and museum methods and
(2) between human needs and the purpose of museums in society."
storytelling + meaning making

50. LINDA KRONMAN |
ANDREAS ZINGERLE,
OPENING MUSEUMS; NEW
INTERACTION METHODS
FOR FUTURE MUSEUM
EXPERIENCES

51. 4. GIVE MODEL
the personal museum

52. what if your museum was a personality?
ENGAGEMENT
EMOTIONS
IDEAS VALUES
AMBITIONS
TASKS
ROLES
BELIEFS
CHARACTERISTICS WORRIES
EMPATHY
NEEDS
GAINS
PAINS
ASSETS
RESOURCES
EXPERIENCES
EDUCATION

53. identity + purpose
(visionary)
IDEA
credit
(engaged)
VALUE
profit
(sustainable)
VALUE
interactive
(co-creative)
EDUCATION
social responsibility
(just)
GOAL
ENGAGEMENT
EMPATHY
EMOTIONS
method for discussing and plotting: from offer to exchange
make a list of the values for your museum,
discuss them (also with your audience), design
an icon and colour for them, so anyone in and
outside the organisation can understand and
recognise them.
think about the assets and recources of your
organisation, make an inventory of the pains and
gains of both your audience and society. Search
for opportunities to deliver added value and
transactions
Define the identity of your museum
by looking at it as a personality
design the social interaction:
connections, relations, co-creation,
storytelling, build experiences,
focus on emotions also

54. method for discussing and plotting: from goal to engagement
EMPATHIEEMPATHY

55. practice what you preach: decolonization
1
2
3

56. social & sustainable in museums: from responsible to purposeful

57. social & sustainable in my museum: plotting the SDG and values
Add:
• identity
• values
• themes
• storylines
• interactions

58. museums and sites are about taking care, for each other
Gatchina Palace

59. last question: what are you going to do tomorrow, to make the world a
better place?

60. FEEL FREE TO MAIL / FOLLOW ME:
tcmeereboer @ gmail . com
t.meereboer @ openluchtmuseum . nl
+31 6 48 777 421
…/in/theomeereboer
@theomeereboer
facebook.com/theomeereboer
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!