International conference on cultural cooperation and partnerships

The two-day international conference on 20-21 November 2017, titled “In partnership with museum” was held within Acting communities – active community involvement (EFOP-1.3.1-15-2016-00001) priority project, focused on the partnership of museums, libraries, public education institutions (schools) and local communities, with special attention on cooperation with museums. The conference was opened by Zoltán Nagy, secretary of state (Ministry for Human Capacities) responsible for coordination and strategy of EU development; he pointed out that the cooperation is indispensable for the implementation of Europe 2020 strategic aims.

The keynote speech of the conference was delivered by Piotr Bienkowski, director of Our Museum Programme, who outlined the experience gained from a seven-year British programme focusing on the cooperation of museums and NGO and local communities.

Dr. Miklós Cseri, director general, Hungarian Open Air Museum pointed out that due to the paradigm shift taking place in the Hungarian museum sphere, the community building attribute of the museum is already perceivable, which contributes to the democratisation of culture and has resulted in engaging new segments of visitors. Dr. László Tüske, director general, National Széchényi Library spoke about the changing role of libraries in the info-communication age, also elaborating on their impact on community development. Árpád Kárpáti, managing director of NMI Institute for Culture Nonprofit Ltd. described community culture as a Hungarian speciality pointing out the development of local communities.

Dr. Mária Arapovics, professional leader of Acting communities – active community involvement project, Museum Education and Methodology Centre, Hungarian Open Air Museum, summed up the objectives and results of the project so far placing a special emphasis on the gap-filling methodology guides, the printed version of which, two has already appeared on community development and volunteering, and Community development methodological guide is also accessible in English on www.cselekvokozossegek.hu. The first short report of the research “Representative survey of cultural institutions” was released in the conference.

Dr. Ibolya Bereczki, deputy director general, Hungarian Open Air Museum, while speaking about museum partnerships she pointed out that the definition of the museum is continuously expanding, and wide-scale involvement of communities, and providing opportunities for shared activities are necessary if we want to preserve the museum’s authentic and at the same time likeable aspect.

During the section meetings, Hungarian and foreign good practices of community development, socialising, volunteering and equal opportunities, cooperation of institutions and local communities and possibilities of inclusion were presented by the speakers.

 The second day of the conference focused on “Partnerships with cultural institutions”. The keynote speech was delivered by Dr. Annamária Vígh, head of Public Collections division, Ministry for Human Capacities provided guidelines for understanding the strategy of “community museum”.

Magdolna Nagy, acting director, Museum Education and Methodology Centre (MOKK), Hungarian Open Air Museum explained that MOKK, prior to Acting communities project and also parallel with it, and also within other programmes, assisted and still assisting museums to increase their community engagement. She described completed and current methodology development projects, training courses, events and books regarding the topic. Out of the foreign good practices, Petra Zwka, founding director, Jugend Museum summed up the role her museum plays in cross-cultural and equal opportunities issues, Uldisch Zarins, strategic director, National Library, Latvia presented the challenges the Latvian society is currently facing, and libraries with expanding range of roles including social and educational aims. Marteen van Ditmarsch spoke about the partnerships of the St. Martin Festival, Utrecht.

The conference was closed by a round-table discussion, when the renowned cultural experts discussed the possible partnerships between cultural institutions and NGOs.

The speakers, section leaders and the moderator supported the conference with their voluntary work. A particularly spectacular graphic image was created in memory of the conference, which together with detailed information is accessible on www.cselekvokozossegek.hu

Organiser of the conference: Museum Education and Methodology Centre, Hungarian Open Air Museum (MOKK, SZNM)

Co-organiser: National Széchényi Library (OSZK), NMI Institute for Culture Nonprofit Ltd.

The conference is supported by the European Social Fund, the Hungarian Sate, and the Ministry for Human Capacities

More information:

Krisztina Vincze

head of marketing and communication

Museum Education and Methodology Centre, Hungarian Open Air Museum

Acing communities – active community involvement

+36 70 456 94 82

vincze.krisztina@sznm.hu

www.cselekvokozossegek.hu