Spring Symposium 2024

Museums play social, environmental, and ethical roles in their communities. The impact of museums extends far beyond the confines of their physical structures, reaching into the very fabric of the communities and spaces they inhabit. Museums build communities of practice through cross-sector collaboration to address needs in their community and become active participants in greater social change. This work starts by thinking beyond the walls of the museum. Museums often occupy physical spaces at the heart of communities, leading to evolving challenges as urban cores and rural population centres grapple with societal challenges like homelessness, addiction, disconnection, and unemployment. By building new connections outside the museum, whether face-to-face or using new technologies, museums can increase their relevance and impact in their immediate community and beyond.

The Alberta Museums Association's 2024 Spring Symposium aims to explore how museums can reach beyond their walls and engage ethically with the spaces and communities they occupy. The program will have four pillars:

• Reciprocity
• Cross-sectoral communities of practice
• Environment (cultural / natural / urban)
• Museums as community spaces

Program and registration details will be released in Fall 2023.