2020–2022
Participants: Pille Runnel, Agnes Aljas, Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt
The international museum development projects aimed, through their applied focus, to help museums increase their societal impact. The activities of museums and other cultural institutions are increasingly tied to their ability to engage with communities and visitors. This people-centred foundation should be integrated into institutional development plans and self-evaluation models.
At the same time, understanding an organisation's societal impact is a crucial part of development evaluation. These projects aimed to provide a framework for impact assessment that helps museums evaluate their societal contributions and identify data-driven opportunities for measuring impact.
The MOI! Museums of Impact project aimed to support museums and cultural institutions in enhancing their societal impact. The self-evaluation model developed for museums enables organisations to analyse their activities and plan their development needs. It helps identify areas where impact can be strengthened and where additional efforts may be required. The model is also a useful tool for planning development strategies and can serve as a foundation for setting new goals, including during leadership transitions.
The Me-Mind (Museums, Events, Measuring Impact on the Local Environment with Data Analytics) project developed guidelines to help cultural organisations plan and develop effective programs and services. The goal is to enable them to better contextualise their activities. For instance, a curator can use the guidelines to consider societal impact and the data needed to assess it during the planning process of an exhibition.
The Estonian National Museum’s research group participated in the project from an action research perspective, conducting both macro- and micro-level analyses. The research group contributed with knowledge and expertise from previous research and collected and analysed new data.
The projects were funded by the European Commission’s Creative Europe program.
Additional information: Details about the developed models.
Other outputs: Consultation services, scientific presentations, dissemination activities and academic publications.