A general trend of decentralisation and tightening financial constraints have contributed to the emergence of new partnerships between museums and local authorities.
In this context, national, city and regional governments, the museum community, private foundations and other stakeholders are increasingly interested in:
- New ways to demonstrate the impact of culture and museums on local development to effectively channel public and private funding as the debate shifts from demonstrating the tax revenues, visitors’ spending and jobs associated with the museums’ economic activity to also capturing social impacts.
- Examples of “what works” to maximise the impacts and create linkages between museums, the local economy and the social fabric, and what the implications for a wide spectrum of policies ranging from culture and tourism to employment and skills, health, business development, innovation and spatial planning.
- New governance arrangements and funding models, as this new agenda affects how museums are organised in areas such as human resources and finance. It also requires local and regional governments to effectively integrate new dimensions in their economic, social and spatial development strategies.
