Museums have found many ways to connect with their communities around environmental concerns – tackling subjects as diverse as resource use and waste, energy, local planning, air pollution and more. Building these connections has the potential to contribute to the wellbeing and resilience as well as the environmental sustainability of both museums and their communities. This workshop offers the […]
Read More →This case study is about how encouraging a culture of ‘active citizenship’ – in staff, volunteers and others – and seeking mutually beneficial relationships can lead to change, increased wellbeing and build resilience in individuals and organisations.
Read More →Transformation Cycle Sophisticated, workshop approach to planning and reviewing organisational change. This approach is for organisations that are used to thinking about how they improve. It is a more sophisticated framework for planning and reviewing change, to the point of transforming the organisation by really embedding new practice. It also recognises the importance in Happy Museum work of the […]
Read More →Story of Change The Story of Change is a workshop approach to planning and reviewing the difference your group wants to make and how. Using a Story of Change to plan and review is at the heart of measuring what matters. It’s a logical approach which reverse-plans from the difference we are hoping to make […]
Read More →This case study looks at how the Museum of East Anglian life reimagined itself as a social enterprise and used appropriate evaluation tools to demonstrate the value of its work. The museum’s success in building social capital and promoting wellbeing inspired the creation of the Happy Museum Project in 2011. Download (pdf): case_study_MEAL
Read More →This case study is about how Reading Museum used a community history project to pilot a new approach to working closely and engaging with communities. The project changed perceptions about several deprived areas of the city and had a positive impact on the participants. A further Happy Museum project Where’s Reading Heading went on to […]
Read More →This case study is about how members of the community with mental health issues curated an exhibition called ‘Landscapes of the Mind’ – and helped The Lightbox to embed a participative way of working and a focus on wellbeing. Download (pdf):
Read More →This case study from Godalming Museum is about how deciding on a community engagement approach to developing a new exhibit rather than defining the exhibit at the outset led to unexpected results – a whole new gallery, new partnerships and investment in reducing the museum’s energy use. Download (pdf): Case Study – Godalming, Co-creating a […]
Read More →This case study is about how Derby Museums put community participation and co-production at the heart of its project to refurbish and re-open The Silk Mill. Innovative forms of evaluation were used to demonstrate the positive impact of making on the participants involved. Download (pdf): Case Study – Derby Silk Mill, participation, making and wellbeing
Read More →This case study is about how The Paper Apothecary, a participative temporary exhibition/activity was co-created with local people – in the process helping the Beaney House in Canterbury to successfully re-launch itself and to pilot an effective approach to engaging and working with audiences. Download (pdf): Case Study – Beaney House, prescribing happiness
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