This article was first published by the Museums Association.
Arts Council England (ACE) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have started work on a new Museums Plan for England – a strategic vision for the sector that will cover the coming decade.
Delegates at the Museums Association’s (MA) annual conference in Birmingham this week heard new details of the plan in a session led by Emmie Kell, the director of museums and cultural property at ACE, and Alice Dowswell, the deputy director of creative places and libraries at DCMS.
Kell told the conference that the title of the session, Shaping the Future Together, “isn’t just a strapline”.
“We really mean it – it’s the principle that is underpinning the entire programme,” she said.
“The future of museums in England will not be determined by one single organisation, it will be shaped by thousands of decisions made by museums, local authorities, funders, the government, communities, volunteers, trustees, partners, and audiences, and the museums plan is an attempt to create a shared sense of direction amidst all of that complexity.”
Kell acknowledged that many delegates attending the conference had been advocating for a museum strategy for a long time.
