As part of the Renaissance programme Museum Development refers to the professional support, advice and guidance given to museums in the regions outside the MLA Hub partnership. This includes Museum Development Officers and the Museum Development Fund. Many other services such as those provided to support the Accreditation Standard also contribute to museum development. Renaissance funds the vast majority of museum development activity across England, although local authorities and other agencies also make an important contribution. Inevitably and rightly a large percentage of museum development effort focuses on smaller museums, often independently run, that do not have call on a wide range of museum skills within their own institutions.
In late 2009, MLA commissioned a study to provide both an assessment of the current museum development landscape and to consider the development of the proposed national strategic framework. This is published here.
MLA would like to thank Jura for undertaking a detailed, thoughtful and comprehensive piece of work. The report brings clarity to what is complex subject. There is consensus across the sector that museum development officers play an important role, however, there has not previously been clarity as to what exactly is covered by museum development, how many museum development officers there are, exactly how they are funded, and what the strategic drivers for their work is. The Jura report clarifies these issues and makes sound recommendations for future strategic investment.
The Review of Renaissance published in July 2009 acknowledged the importance of museum development activity and recommended it continued under a nationally cooordinated umbrella as part of Renaissance. This recommendation is mirrored in MLAs own recent vision for the future of Renaissance. MLA will draw upon the Jura work and its recommendations in making future detailed proposals for the future delivery of Renaissance.
Review of Museum Development (PDF 220KB)