Museums as Social and Educational Spaces – Practical Training for Work with Different Audiences
The Bulgarian-American Commission for Educational Exchange, in partnership with My Museum Foundation and the museums in Plovdiv, offers a ten-month training project aimed at the development of educational and social capacity of the museums in the city of Plovdiv and the region. The program is supported by the “Plovdiv 2019” Municipal Foundation, and will be carried out by means of eleven seminars and practical workshops for museum professionals. The project will conclude with the publication of a handbook that summarizes the methodologies, the case studies from the museums in Plovdiv, as well as the results of the workshops.
The seminars will familiarize the participants with the theory and methodology, but above all, they will offer practical training – something that stipulates the limit of participants to 16-18.
The project represents a unique opportunity for museum specialists in Plovdiv to participate for extended period of time in training seminars, at which to re-think the social role of museums, to build shared understanding and strategies how to engage various communities and to open up museums as active social and educational spaces where various communities and guests of Plovdiv will engage with the distinct life and culture of Plovdiv.
Immediate learning outcomes of the project will be:
- The establishment of mechanisms for improving internal communication in museums in projects involving diverse audiences;
- Improving approaches to public relations;
- Building up a repertoire of new ideas and specific models for social and educational work with audiences;
- The promotion of dialogue between museums, educational institutions and communities.
The seminar leaders are established experts in a range of fields — PR, museology, museum learning and visitor programs, advocacy in the field of social inclusion and disabilities: