Creating Meaningful and Inclusive Museum Practices
Learn how to engage and collaborate with diverse communities to turn museums into spaces of social inclusion and belonging.
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Encourage wider participation, community inclusion, and co-curation!
This course will broaden your perspective on the role of contemporary museums in community engagement and equip you with the skills to develop meaningful and inclusive museum projects.
Understand key challenges for marginalized people and promote inclusive museum learnin
The inclusion of historically marginalized communities has become a key challenge for contemporary museums.
On this course, you’ll explore a series of methodologies and strategies that you can adapt to your own context to encourage participation in all communities.
Discover participatory methodologies for social inclusion and diverse community building
Using case studies and discussions with practitioners, academics, and community members, you’ll explore the meaning of community and what it means to belong or not to belong.
You’ll learn how inclusive museum design can foster a feeling of belonging, and how to adapt institutional structures to integrate projects that are produced in collaboration with diverse communities.
Study inclusive museum practice with the International Council of Museums (ICOM)
This course is led by ICOM, an international organisation created by and for museum professionals committed to protecting the world’s natural and cultural heritage.
You’ll learn with two ICOM-appointed museum specialists with extensive experience in the study and development of participatory programmes.
Hailing from South Africa and Salvador/Canada respectively, you’ll gain a global understanding of the value of enhancing community engagement in museums projects and activities.
You’ll finish the course with not only an understanding of the concepts related to meaningful participation but also with the knowledge to transform these concepts into practical methodologies that you can apply at work.
When would you like to start?
Start straight away and learn at your own pace. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.
Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to… · Reflect on the importance of historically marginalized groups defining yourself, your positionality and sense of belonging
- Analyse institutional structures and leaders to collaborative work in an ethical perspective
- Explain Inclusive Design methodology and its importance in creating institutions that foster a feeling of belonging
- Apply selected participatory methodologies to their contexts
Who is the course for
This course is designed for all museum professionals looking to broaden their understanding and skills in inclusive and participatory practices and how to develop inclusive community projects.
The concepts and tools you’ll learn will enable you to champion inclusivity and wider participation in a variety of areas of museum work, including museum education, museum curation, museography, conservation, and more.
Who will you learn with
Deirdre Prins-Solani
Heritage activistDeirdre Prins-Solani
She investigates the relationships between living heritage and the everyday so as to create through action research, viable and sustainable living practice
Armando Perla
Scholar, consultant, activist and curatorArmando Perla
He collaborates with museums, cultural organizations, and communities on issues of human rights and social inclusion in Canada and abroad.
Carlos Serrano Vásquez
Capacity Building Coordinator at ICOMCarlos Serrano Vásquez
Experienced in the design and implementation of impactful education and training programmes and committed to collaborative work and social responsibility.
Who developed the course?
International Council of Museums
ICOM is the international organization of museums and museum professionals committed to building capacity, defending world heritage and communicating the value of museums to society. In order to shape the museum of tomorrow, ICOM offers high-level capacity building programs with the support of its network. These programs aim to improve museum practices in different regions of the world and promote professional cooperation among institutions facing similar challenges. Established 1946, Paris
I have a degree in anthropology and have become increasingly interested in finding a way to to combine my experience in education with my passion for other cultures and the past. Through learning more about museums and their practices, I hope to improve my workplace knowledge and skills for a possible career change.