The Diversifying Museum Visitors project steering group has created an invitation to tender document and is currently looking for a consultant, or consultants, to manage the research, which will result in a final report in October. The project will include a review of existing literature, examination of case studies and production of guidance, toolkits, frameworks or other types of support, which should be co-produced with a range of different types of museums.
Consultants are also asked to make recommendations about actions that sector support organisations should take and about rolling out the outcomes of this project, as well as long-term evaluation.
They are asked to factor in a wide-range of characteristics including socio-economic diversity as well as the protected characteristics and understand that diversity will mean different things for different museums because of their different contexts.
“So for this research the diversity of museum visitors should be considered in relation to the diversity of its community, rather than in comparison to other museum,” the invitation to tender states. “To enable museums to understand the barriers for diverse visitors in visiting museums and feeling a sense of belonging in relation to them.”
In AIM’s survey The Impact of Charging or Not for Admissions on Museums carried out last year it found there was a lack of data regarding the profile of museum visitors, held either by museums themselves, or by sector bodies. As well as this the survey highlighted that many museums also lacked knowledge of the profile of the communities they serve, which it hopes this new report and toolkit will seek to address.
Proposals should be submitted by email to AIM’s Executive Director Tamalie Newbery ([email protected]) by 5pm on February 16, 2017.
