How did we approach the analysis?

The case studies included have been collected by each partner and provide a snapshot of activity across Europe, from the partner countries – Croatia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK. Throughout the project’s duration we will collect further case studies and examples from our networks from across Europe and worldwide. This analysis is a springboard for discussion within the project partnership team, to share via our dissemination networks (the museum, creative, digital and Maker communities), to enable us to assess current attitudes, pinpoint types of project and activities. It is designed to create a flavour of the current state of play from selected countries and weacknowledge that the examples are by no means exhaustive, there is a tremendous amount of fantastic work being carried out by museums within Europe and further afield. The Creative Museum Project encourages feedback and participation from the museum, digital and Maker communities through social media (Facebook, Twitter and blogs, video diaries) and our dissemination activities, such as conferences and seminars.

 

For the purposes of The Creative Museum Project, we recognise all types of museum, gallery, science centre, heritage and archaeological site within the project.

 
We created a framework for the case studies, asking contributors to define their project within the following categories:

 
Type 1 Workshop / project / one-off event:Workshop, short project or one-off event where visitors come and make /
create something or engage with the collection facilitated by a member of
museum staff, educator or specialist such as a Maker or an artist.

 

Type 2 Dedicated spaces:
Spaces within a museum dedicated to creativity where visitors can participate in creative processes. These can include spaces with specialist facilities and technology such as FabLabs (Fabrication Labs), MediaLabs, Living Labs or Digital Spaces. These are often seen as places for free experimentation.

 

Type 3 Co-curated exhibitions, partnerships and collaborations:
Visitors engage with the museum over a period of time, work collaboratively with museum staff (for example on an interpretation project); co-curated exhibition, display, dedicated piece of technology. Often the museum works with an external partner to enable this collaboration.

 

Type 4 Re: mixing the museum:
Visitors to the museum ‘remix’ the museum by taking over spaces in the museum, reinterpreting collections by working as active agents in the process with curators and museum staff.

 

Type 5 “Permission-free”
Visitors “do their own thing” and respond to the collection without the involvement of the institution.