Hands On! Logo int. Accociation of Children in Museums

Frankfurt 2019

October 22-26 Frankfurt, Germany
The 12th edition of our biennial conference took us to Europe’s oldest existing children’s museum, Junges Museum Frankfurt.The conference focused on museums’ roles as places of social inclusion. Participants from 28 counries, discussed how to cater to specific needs of diverse audiences, how children’s museums use collections to impart knowledge on cultural heritage and explored innovative educational formats in connection with digital learning. As part of our 21st Century Children Project, co-funded by the EU Creative Europe programme, we added a full day of training sessions dedicated to the unique role children-dedicated museum education plays in 21st century education.
Poster HandsOn! Conference 2019

Theme Description

All inclusive! Museums as places for ALL children

The conference focused on museums’ roles as places of social inclusion. We discussed how to cater to specific needs of diverse audiences and took a closer look at how children’s museums use collections to impart knowledge on cultural heritage, and explored innovative educational formats, especially when connected to digital learning.

Thanks to the generous funding of the EU, an extra day was added to the conference in order to provide in-depth training sessions dedicated to collecting and defining the unique roles and functions children-dedicated museum spaces can take on in providing relevant means of education tailored to the needs of a new generation.

Focus Topics

Diverse audience(s) and social inclusion
Today’s museum audiences are highly diverse: intergenerational, transcultural, from a variety of social backgrounds, with (or without) various forms of handicaps. As keepers of cultural heritage, we are responsible for providing cultural education for everybody! How can we develop exhibitions and programs for everyone? How can we design accessible exhibitions and museums?. How can we be “all-inclusive”?

Collection-based cultural education
Museums collect artifacts and objects of historical or cultural significance. Using these collections, cultural education aims to help audiences to access material and nonmaterial culture. How do museums and children’s museums succeed in using objects to render cultural heritage more tangible for children? How can object-based exhibitions designed for general museum audiences become more attractive for families and children.

New formats of cultural education: digital learning and beyond
Following the digital turn, digital learning, gamification and changed expectations of our audiences have shaped and transformed our field of work. How can digital learning be used as a tool to design exhibitions and educational programs for children? How can well-known forms of education, be modified and adapted to fit new needs? We would like to discuss new, avant-garde creative formats and methods of cultural education.

21st Century Children www.21stcenturychildren.eu
As part of our 21st century children project which is generously supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, we were launching our children in museums industry evaluation during this conference.Throughout the conference participants helped us map and evaluate our sector in order to brand museums as places for learning. An extra day was added to the conference in order to provide in-depth training sessions dedicated to collecting and defining the unique roles and functions children-dedicated museum spaces can take on in providing relevant means of education tailored to the needs of a new generation.