Museum and Local DevelopmentOECD Forum on Local Development

Praha, April 11th, 2017Xavier Greffe, University Paris Sorbonne

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Is cultural heritage a lever for development?

Added Value and New jobs through tourism and cultural products

Attractivity and better historic urban landscape Positive contribution to the wellbeing of local

communities Fabric for creativity: The role of intangible cultural

heritage

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How are museums levers for development?

By producing intrinsic artistic and cultural values. Developing facilities for visitors, organising exhibitions and other

events, and producing scientific knowledge through the use of various media are the principal categories.

By developing the supply of extrinsic values: educational, social, and even environmental. This can be considered as an extension of the the museum’s

traditional educational function to support general knowledge.

By redesigning the cultural landscape of the city. The design of a new building or the extension of an existing building

proves to be a major architectural creation. They increasingly encompass an urban dimension in serving as meeting places or stopping-off points, making the museum a landmark and a symbol of shared identity (like the M9 Museum under construction in Mestre.)

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The variation of the Museum Economic Models

The Branding Museum (as an extension of the superstar museum)

The Event-making museum The Empowering local community museum

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The Branding Museum From Superstars to Branding Museums

Superstars museums were identified as outstanding in terms of their attendance figures, collections, architecture, and associated products and services.

The “branding museum” goes further by mobilizing and caitalizing on numerous intangible assets, which put the importance of physical assets into new perspective: The assets are organizational as well as scientific or communicational.

The relative importance of these intangible assets is in general complemented by a high degree of autonomy, the possession of working capital, a support from international patrons, and a strategy of events planning that goes far beyond temporary exhibitions or purely cultural themes.

Co-opetition at the global level. From Image to Brand, and vice-versa

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The Event-Making Museum For this type of museum the chief mechanism for attracting

visitors, and thus remaining financially sustainable, is the organization of events, exhibitions, concerts, conferences, etc.

But they also have to count on a significant increase in the costs of organizing these events.

When the model of “event-driven museum” is adopted, it unleashes profound changes in the future management of the museum. By turning itself into an event, the museum enters into the events market, which has numerous producers and consumers, and hence into monopolistic competition with other “event-driven museums”.

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The Local Community Empowering Museum (1)

A vast majority of museums have been built around locally sourced collections brought together through the clustering of works or objects around some local practice, activity, or cultural expression.

The economic model of the “empowering local community museum” is mainly underpinned by subsidies, grants, patronage, sources that for many reasons are strongly declining.

How long such museums will survive? Is their future their own transformation in a community meeting center? Can they benefit from the mutualization of their backyard resources, keeping some autonomy for delivering frontyard services?

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The Local Community Empowering Museum (2) : Which Challenges?

Disappearing local networks

Shrinking support from local governments

Increasing costs of the conservation of the existence value

Different perspectives between stakeholders

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Which agenda for local development strategies? Taking into consideration the difference of

perspectives? Re-thinking the institutional design? New clues for production and services From auto-evaluation to evaluation

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Taking into consideration the difference of perspectives :

Which is the relevant contribution of museums to local development?

According to the Local Government

Indicators According to the museum

87% Tourism 7%60% Creation of products 12%65% Bettering the skills 8%47% Piloting new

technologies40%

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Taking into consideration the difference of perspectives :

Which is the Target group of the soicla inclusion for museums?

According to the Local Government

Indicators According to the museum

72% Young people less than 25 years old

75%

21% Adults 7%4% Disadvantaged

people6%

4% Senior citizens 5%

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Rething the institutional design:In what ways do local governments hamper the accomplishment of your goals for development?

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Rething the institutional design:What is the most positive role of the local

government for your museum?Objective %Make you known to the local population

20,2%

Provide funding 54%Take over management responsibilities

6,8%

Give political support for your work? 19 %Total 100%

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Re-thinking the institutional design:What organisational structure facilitates cooperation between museums and local

governments?

Directed by local government 14,6%Directed by national government 4,2%

Mixed direction, both local and national

27,1%

Public-Private Partnership 39,6%Private non-profit? 12,5%Private for-profit 2,0%Total 100%

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Re-thinking the institutional design:

Between devolution and mutualization

A not so strong demand of devolution Mixed System: The Renaissance program in United

Kingdom

The mutualization of the backyard The mutualization of the frontyard

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New clues for prodution and servicesStarting from the collections

Training for adult Disposal of venues Health and wellbeing Archives for economic development Driver for creativity Disposal of venues and places for meeting Is a vitual museum a museum (or a cultural center

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From evaluation to auto-evaluation:Which are the desirable indicators?

According to the Local Government

Indicators According to the museum

17% Education & Training 36%42% Number of Visitors 36%63% Economic

Development49%

68% Social Welfare 57%

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From evaluation to auto-evaluation:Which are the desirable indicators?

To agree on the difference between intriniscal and extrinsical values

Three dimensions to take into consideration: Assessment, monitoring and mediatization

Involve the human resources in the definition of the indicators

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