Northern Ireland
24 – 26 April 2008
Causeway Museum Service
Engaging Your Community / Putting words into practice
What does community engagement mean for your museum? Is it about chasing the latest funding agenda or does it represent a real opportunity for museum practice? How do you translate ideas about being open, responsive and inclusive into your management structure, strategic planning and programming? How can you show that working with your community is worthwhile?
This major national training seminar focuses on partnership work with adult community groups. You will have the opportunity to learn from best practice across the UK and Ireland and, more importantly, how to put ideas into practice in your own context.
Programme:
Thursday 24 April
18.00 Registration at Causeway Hotel
19.00 Drinks
reception sponsored by Moyle District Council
Buffet dinner
Friday 25 April
09.00 Coach departs for Garvagh
09.30 Registration/Coffee
10.00 Chair - Mark
Robinson, Heritage Lottery Fund
Welcome – Mayor Cllr. Maurice Bradley, Coleraine Borough Council
Opening Address – Gemma Reid, CMS
Keynote Address - Alec Coles, Tyne and Wear Museums
11.15 Choice
of 3 workshops
History and outreach - a beautiful friendship
Using Tyne and Wear Museums as a model for exploring practical approaches to the
development of interdepartmental working.
Zoe Brown, Tyne and Wear Museums
Out there/in here
Engaging managers and funders to support ‘engaging our communities’. From
‘one-off’ projects to core function - can sustainability be more than a buzz
word?
Helen Perry, Causeway Museum Service
Who is my community?
Defining your role in community life; identifying and recruiting community
partners; relationship-building; and reconciling different goals.
Gemma Reid, Causeway Museum Service
12.15 Lunch
12.45 Choice
of 4 workshops
Teaching the teachers
Learning Outside the Classroom is not just for children – do teachers know how
your resources can help them deliver the curriculum?
Nicky Morgan, MLA Yorkshire
A story that binds us all
Using the new London, Sugar & Slavery Gallery at the Museum in Docklands as a
case study for enabling community engagement in the development of permanent
exhibitions.
Lucie Amos and Lynda Agard, Museum of London
Exploring different faiths
Using stories and objects to engage with diverse faith communities. Do your
collections, exhibitions and programmes reflect the diversity of our changing
population?
Jenny Siung, Chester Beattie Library
Representing the travelling community
Do museums have a
role in addressing community relations? How can you develop relationships with
settled and travelling communities and how do you present their experiences to
your local community?
Marie McMahon, South Tipperary Museum
14.00 Community archives were made for me Ian Oxley, Commanet
15.00 Coffee
15.15 How
do we know if they are learning?
How to identify learning outcomes, measure and analyse them. Then test out some
tools by evaluating your own learning experience during the day.
Alison James, Evaluation Consultant
16.45 Closing Address - Gemma Reid, Causeway Museum Service
17.00 Finish
18.30 Drinks
reception sponsored by Coleraine Borough Council
Dinner at the Ramore Restaurant, Portrush
21.30 Return to Causeway Hotel
Saturday 26 April
Delegates are invited to choose from three guided tours of community-led projects across the Causeway Area.
09.30 Buses depart from Causeway Hotel
Tour 1:
am - Balnamore Mill Tour, Balnamore Community Association
lunch – Community Archives, Ballymoney Museum
pm – Clachan Project, Glens of Antrim Historical Society
Tour 2:
am – Language and Dialect in North Antrim, Mosside Community Association
lunch – Our Lives, Green Lane Museum
pm –North Sperrins Heritage Trail, Feeny Community Associations
Tour 3:
am – Limavady Workhouse, Limavady Community Development Initiative
lunch – Bringing the Cows Back, Coleraine Town Hall
pm – Boyd’s Ballycastle walking tour, Ballycastle Historical Research Group
17.00 Buses return to Causeway Hotel
19.00
Drinks reception sponsored by Limavady and Ballymoney Borough Councils
Dinner at Stranocum Hall
23.00 Return to Causeway Hotel
For more information about the Causeway Area go to www.northcoastni.com
The Causeway Museum Service represents a partnership between the four local authorities of Coleraine, Ballymoney, Limavady and Moyle. This seminar is a key milestone in developing innovative practice in community engagement, which to date has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
For information, contact Northern Ireland Area Convenor