SHARE Museums East’s Working with Communities seminar will address some of the key possibilities and challenges for museums of working with community groups.

There are many ways that museums can take their work into community settings or bring community groups into the museum, and indeed, there is a growing expectation that museums will play a part in community development.

However, there remain many questions around how this can be realistically achieved. This seminar will be an opportunity to explore different examples of this kind of work and get some advice on how to identify and engage potential participants and partners.

The day will tackle the idea of working with communities through 4 key areas

1. The Basics – Who are our communities? How do we find out? What do we do once we’ve identified the different groups?
2. First Contact – What skills are needed when working with community groups? How do you approach a community?
3. Developing a programme – A look at case studies including some of the pitfalls to avoid.
4. Embedding – Working with the community isn’t limited to specific projects, but needs to be the way in which the organisation works. How do we effect an operational change in our organisations?

This day will be hosted by a cohort of museums that are currently involved in working with communities, and they will share case studies, successes and failures.