Building the ground for the future of community engagement

Why is the relationship between institutions and communities a fundamental one? How can institutions successfully develop participatory initiatives of community engagement? At our online roundtable “Museums, Cultural Organizations and Community Engagement”, which took place on Saturday 5 December 2020, 8 academics and practitioners with long experience in working with communities around the world, shared their projects and thoughts with a large audience from Greece and abroad, highlighting strong parallels, as well as unique differences that arise in community engagement practices in global and local contexts.

Eleni Stefanou

“Theory and practice worldwide is now moving beyond the logic of outreach from the institution to the public, and turns its scope to increased participation of social groups and local communities in the design and implementation of exhibition practices and cultural heritage strategies.”

Eleni Stefanou, Archaeologist-Museologist, Hellenic Open University, MSc Management of Cultural Organizations, HERITΛGE Public, opened the digital discussion with a welcome speech, highlighting the importance of seeking local answers to the global and timely question of working for or with the public, in relation to our ethical responsibility as culture and heritage professionals towards the people directly implicated in our projects.

Marlen Mouliou

Marlen Mouliou, Museologist and Assistant Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, was the first to discuss about community engagement, underlining the importance of connecting and creating a digital community around Museums.

See more here.

Rolf Hapel

Rolf Hapel, Affiliate Instructor at the Information School of the University of Washington and former director of Citizens’ Services and Libraries and City Librarian in Aarhus Library, provided significant insight on how to build communities at Public Libraries.

See more here.

Elgidius B. Ichumbaki

Elgidius B.  Ichumbaki, Lecturer at the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies of the University of Dar es Salaam, described the role of heritage institutions in fostering community engagements in Tanzania.

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Lejla Hadzic

Through the example of Cultural Heritage without Borders Albania, Lejla Hadzic suggests that conservation practices should be inclusive, empowering and equitable processes of encounter for everyone, in order to restore and build relations.

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Gai Jorayev

Gai Jorayev, Research Associate, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, explained how to grow influence of the digital platforms and improve connectivity to achieve higher levels of community engagement.

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Aris Anagnostopoulos

Aris Anagnostopoulos, Honorary Lecturer University of Kent and HERITΛGE Public Director, was moderating the discussion, feeding the conversation with his valuable input and  participants’ questions.

See the general discussion here.

Andrea Witcomb

Professor Andrea Witcomb, Faculty of Arts, Deakin University, Melbourne, gave an inspiring closing speech and provided strategies for inclusion, asking us to think about how we represent communities in our museums. 

Listen to the closing speech here.