On 3rd April 2019 Happy Museum will join the first wave of cultural organisations declaring climate emergency.  As the accelerating impacts of climate change become increasingly evident it is vital that we face the truth, demand action, support each other and express solidarity with affected communities. Our declaration follows: We Happy Museum declare a Climate and Ecological […]

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In January 2019, our Affiliate Chester Zoo hosted a session for the Happy Museum (HM) Community of Practice  exploring the subject of Co-Production for Social Change. The workshop was an experiment for the HM community – offering the host, Chester Zoo, the opportunity to explore a question of interest to its team, with input from […]

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Charlotte Smith moved from the museums and galleries sector to Chester Zoo. Here she reflects on Happy Museum thinking and the different models of community engagement the zoo uses in its conservation campaigns. My Happy Museum experience at Imperial War Museum North (read about it here) played a role in awakening my inner activist. I […]

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This case study looks at how different museums and galleries have made use of Happy Museum tools and approaches to evaluation. With evaluation built in from the start, the organisations have a framework that leads them from a vision of the change they want to make, through to planning, developing, delivering and measuring what matters. […]

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Observational evaluation An in-gallery approach to predefined indicators of outcomes. Observational evaluation involves researchers observing participants in projects to record their activities, behaviours, emotions, interactions, themes and so on, to get a sense of how people experience your project. It can also be an opportunity to engage the front of house teams. Download: (pdf) Observational_evaluation For information about the […]

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Narrative evaluation A desk work approach to identifying themes including how frequently they recur, by analysing written material. You may gather qualitative written feedback through forms, interviews, visitor comments, embedded evaluations and so on. There are ways to collate this data and include it as evidence in your evaluation and learning processes. Downloads: (pdf) Narrative_evaluation (xls)  NarrativeEvaluationTemplate For information […]

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Embedded evaluation A variety of in-gallery, open approaches which might be fun, embedded in the exhibition or activity to gain a variety of feedback. This is the idea of making evaluation part of the project itself rather than something that takes places outside of the project or at another time. Download:  (pdf) Embedded_evaluation For information about the rest […]

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Where do you stand?  Simple, workshop approach before, after and regularly through an activity to identify individual outcomes Where do you stand? is a simple tool that can gauge participants’ opinions by asking them to stand a line of masking tape to show whether they agree with a statement on a scale of 1-7. It is used […]

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Happy Tracker Very simple, workshop approach before, after, and regularly through a period to identify individual wellbeing outcomes. Happy Tracker is a very simple and easy tool developed by the Story Museum working with the New Economics Foundation (nef) to assess individual wellbeing. Participants simply use their body to indicate their level of wellbeing at points in […]

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Time capsule Simple, fun, workshop approach; before and after activity to identify personal or social outcomes. Time Capsule is a relaxed but engaging and fun tool that captures changes in opinion or sentiment connected to an issue or place. This tool was developed by Happy Museum commission Reading Museum and adapted for more general use. Time Capsule could […]

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