Douglas Worts, Culture & Sustainability Specialist, WorldViews Consulting
Throughout my involvement with the Alberta Museums Association (AMA), the AMA has distinguished itself as a progressive force in the field. Always thoughtful about emergent trends affecting both museums and communities, the AMA has understood the need for museums to be aware of, and engaged with, the forces that shape the living culture and the culture of museums. Over the past 20+ years, I have participated in numerous AMA projects, including two favourites:
- the development and roll-out of the Museum Excellence Program in the early 2000s, and
- delivering the AMA's 2003 conference keynote, which focussed on the topic, "Museums in Search of a Sustainable Future," published the following year in the Alberta Museums Review, Fall 2004.
From the late 1990s onwards, my museological work has focussed on the intersection of human culture(s) and the unsustainability of our species on planet Earth. Given the reality of this troubled relationship between people and Nature, the need for dramatic change / adaptation of human culture has never been greater. The question I continue to pursue is whether museums have the capacity to become catalysts of cultural transformation that could re-establish a balance between human activity and the functioning of Earth's natural systems?
There is ample evidence that if humans lived differently, we all could easily be supported by the planet's natural regenerative capability. Further, I believe there is no doubt that museums have the theoretical potential to embrace the role of cultural catalyst that could foster new relationships between humanity and the biosphere. However, this potential cannot be realized without significant changes to the why, what, and how that propels museums.
As part of the 2014 AMA Conference, which had the theme of "Accelerating Museum Impact," I was a panellist in a session called "Social Responsibility and Cross Sector Engagement." Interestingly, many of the same issues that I was addressing in the early 2000s also were present in 2014, and remain relevant in 2021. In anticipation of the AMA's 50th Anniversary Conference this year, I was asked to revisit that 2014 session and reflect on its relevance today.
At their core, I feel that museums are 'places of the muses'. As a museum educator, audience researcher, and interpretive planner since the early 1980s, I have experienced what can happen when members of the public engage with significant artistic and historical materials that trigger a visitor's imagination, creativity, insight, and inspiration. Through audience research studies, I was privileged to glimpse inspiring moments of visitor creativity. However, more frequently, I documented a very high level of 'grazing' activity, as visitors ambled slowly but steadily through galleries and exhibits.
It has been one of the inspiring insights of my professional life to witness visitors engage with, and creatively respond to, materials that carry symbolic power. Such experiences commonly go well beyond the anticipated experiences that exhibit developers picture for visitors.
When imagination is evoked in the context of individuals and groups, especially when rooted in issues of our day (e.g., climate change, systemic racism, structural inequity, etc.), the potential for adaptive behaviour emerges. Specifically, I have observed three core aspects of meaning-making within museum experiences: personal reflection, dialogue / empathy, and creative action. Museums still have much to learn about how symbolic materials (artistic and heritage) can help catalyze public engagement.
In 2021, the perfect storm of environmental, social, and economic calamity surrounds humanity - considerably more urgently than in 2014. Thankfully, societies seem increasingly aware of two mega problems - systemic inequity and environmental destruction. Both of these issues offer entry points for potential cultural transformation. The trick is understanding and mapping the complex causes and impacts of these trends and figuring out how to engage the public in becoming part of an effective process of cultural adaptation.
Existing societal systems (e.g., economics, governance, education, etc.) invariably lie at the heart of current cultural trends. Accordingly, these systems themselves must change to alter humanity's path forward. Sadly, our systems were designed to persist, driven by the values, norms, and assumptions of our cultural status quo. Although an increasing number of individuals, and even organizations, understand the imperative for change, few can picture how individuals, groups, or organizations can bring about the meaningful systemic change that is required to alter the current trajectory.
During the "Accelerating Museum Impacts" panel at the 2014 Conference, I provided a handout to participants. It contained four main questions that I encouraged delegates to keep in mind throughout the conference. These questions evolved from the sustainability planning work I was doing at the time - and they reflect the importance of systems thinking in understanding complex situations, finding leverage points for effective intervention, and generating innovations that can be implemented, at the leverage points, so that meaningful change cascades across the system. In my mind, these questions remain extremely relevant and need to be reflected upon by individuals, groups, and organizations.
Question 1 - What is your vision of 'museum impacts'?
Can you imagine measuring these impacts on individuals, groups, communities, organizations (yes, the museum itself, but also other organizations!), civic systems, and others?
Question 2 - What are the critical trends happening within our culture?
OK, institutional trends like declining museum revenues - but more importantly, identify trends in the living culture that must be re-directed. Examples are accelerating climate change, increasing systemic racism, increasing homelessness, discouraged youth, pluralization, etc.
Question 3 - What forces are creating these trends and their impacts?
Mapping the many forces at play here - economic, social, cultural - can help identify leverage points, where significant change can be catalyzed, with the right innovations. Often involving foundational values and unchallenged assumptions, these leverage points are outside traditional operational contexts and comfort zones.
Question 4 - What innovations can help museums play the role of cultural catalyst that helps mobilize and transform our communities?
This requires 'outside the box' thinking. Exhibits and on-site programs have not catalyzed cultural change in the past. Implementing processes to encourage community stakeholders to co-create visions of viable, preferred futures can help build cultural cohesion and a sense of ownership. It is essential to create ways to plan for and to measure cultural impacts, at a range of levels: individuals, groups, communities, organizations, partnerships, economics, social systems, environment, and more.
The Inside-Outside Model is a tool to help museums think 'outside the box,' with cultural impacts as the goal. Experimentation and assessment are key!
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