New NEMO Report: Revisiting the Educational Value of Museums

The Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO) has recently published the documentation resulting from its 23rd Annual Conference that took place in Pilsen, Czech Republic, from 5-7 November 2015. Entitled Revisiting the Educational Value of Museums: Connecting to Audiences, this new publication invites readers to take a step back and reconsider the topic of education in museums. Even though museums have been educational places since their inception, the increasingly prominent role that museums are playing in society means that education no longer equals conveying content or information about collections. A look at developments in the field of education in museums, particularly with regard to a wide diversification of audiences, is given through examples from countries with different educational traditions, including the Czech Republic, Nordic and Baltic countries, Poland and Portugal. They show that education in museums is often intertwined with activities which aim to achieve inclusion, intercultural dialogue, public engagement, participation, community empowerment, or to stimulate creativity and support innovation. Perspectives of colleagues from museum networks beyond Europe extend the views and emphasise the common thread of a social dimension included in educational programmes. Contributors include ASEMUS Chair Fionnuala Croke, with a text entitled "ASEMUS: Training Museum Educators in Asia and Europe". This, along with an increased emphasis on visitor and learner-centred approaches and a wide diversification of audiences, confirms the great potential and the crucial role that museums as learning environments can play to form more responsible citizens and contribute to a more inclusive and informed society. In the words of NEMO chair David Vuillaume, "the ultimate goal of museums... is to help people to grow as individuals, become more critical of our society and more involved, learn to appreciate dialogue, feel empathy, be tolerant, become more educated and more civilised, to stand against ignorance and extremism". Revisiting the Educational Value of Museums is available at http://www.ne-mo.org/news/article/nc/1/nemo/new-nemo-publication-revisiting-the-educational-value-of-museums/376.html