ICOM Europe International conference “Bridging the gap between museeums and communities: the role of communication and education” will be held on 2-3 October 2023 at the National Coach museum in Lisbon (Portugal).

Conference organizer: ICOM Europe Regional Alliance

Partners: ICOM Portugal, ICOM Georgia, ICOM Croatia. Lusofona University, UNESCO Portugal, Lisbon National Coach Museum.

The “Bridging the Gap between Museums and Communities: The Role of Communication and Education” International conference aims to unite ICOM Members, including museum mediators, teachers, and students of Museum Studies, communication, education, and heritage professionals from around the globe. Over two days, participants will convene to enhance skills, acquire knowledge, and exchange experiences on how museums can effectively connect with diverse communities through communication and education.

This seminar seeks to gather insights and research initiatives centered on empowering communities as co-creators of knowledge.

Conference thematics: 

1. Memory and community. How museums can turn themselves into cultural hubs for people to understand the value of heritage.
2.  Communication, Education and community. How the educational departments can develop participatory strategies to give voice to communities.
3. Heritage as expression of different cultures and different migrations. The objects have different meanings for different communities. What makes an object so important for one community?
4. How can we give voice to non-represented communities in museums?
5. Challenging times - such as we are living now (post covid, climate change issues, financial and economic crisis and war times in Europe) how to use communication and education to approach communities?
6. Virtual visitors versus real objects? How can we turn non visitors into real museum visitors engaging museum objects?

Kindly provide the following by August 15, 2023:

• Abstract of the presentation (including subject, content, and method)
• Author’s name
• Organization and country
• Title of the submitted proposal
• Synopsis of the proposal/project (maximum 400 words)
• Brief biography of each presenter (maximum 100 words)

Please send your proposal to icomeulisbon23@gmail.com.

Important Dates:

August 21, 2023: Notification of Acceptance
September 15, 2023: Final Paper Submission

conference web page: https://icomeulisbon23.org/