“Coltivare una rete”: training and support for Emilia-Romagna’s museums

Emilia-Romagna is home to numerous museums dotted around the area. However, the regional museum context reveals the need to share resources and programming, to create a network of knowledge and experience between different institutions, and to identify common objectives so as to address contemporary challenges in the cultural sector. One of the possible opportunities for development lies in the creation of museum networks of various types – e.g., thematic or regional networks – with the aim of encouraging the sharing of resources, objectives and projects.

The Cultural Heritage Department of the Regione Emilia-Romagna is therefore launching a training and support process for new museum networks in the area.

The project was created in response to the need to adapt the regional museum context to the current challenges in the cultural sphere and with the aim of raising awareness, informing and training local cultural operators with regard to the strategic objectives and basic operational methods for establishing a network.

Starting from an analysis of museum networks and benchmarks, BAM! supported the Regione Emilia-Romagna in developing and structuring of the in-depth course “Coltivare una rete: futuri condivisi per i musei” (Cultivating a network: shared futures for museums). This entails three meetings in October 2023 – two online and one in person – focusing on some of the key issues for the creation and management of a museum network:

• 19 October 2023, 10:30 – 12:30 (online) – Operational elements, functions and activities
• 27 October 2023, 10:30 – 12:30 (online) – Legal aspects and management models
• 9 November 2023, 11:00 – 16:00 (in person) – Planning and shared strategies

Once the meetings have been completed, there are plans to provide operational support for an informal network in the region, selected from among the participating museums at the end of the cycle of meetings.