Since 2015, the VP and founding director of the Center
for the Future of Museums has been tracking the
sector in an annual TrendsWatch publication.
She tells Magali Robathan about this year’s biggest trends and how to capitalise on them
Merritt founded the Center for the Future of Museums in 2008 / Photo: American Alliance of Museums
As a futurist, how do you support museums? I create little temporal anomalies that give museum people a glimpse into what the world might be like, decades hence. That sounds very sci-fi, but it’s a pretty good summary of what a futurist does.
What does your role involve on a day-to-day basis? In day-to-day practice, this involves teaching, forecasting and research. I teach museum people the skills of foresight, starting with a basic awareness of the fact that decisions about long-term organisations, such as museums, need to be made in the context of envisioning long-term futures. What challenges will face their community in 10, 20, or 50 years? What changes will they need to navigate?
Realising that not every museum person has the time to become a futurist, I do some of the groundwork – identifying important trends, creating scenarios that describe worlds museums might inhabit in coming decades, and asking critical questions.
To fuel this work I unearth the information museums need to inform their foresight. That sometimes requires conducting research, whether that’s on public expectations of museums, or trends in museum practice.
What do you see as the most important trends highlighted in this year’s TrendsWatch? Two of the trends this year illustrate the power museums have to help create a better world for all of us. The term ‘existential crisis’ has been overworked in the past few years, but I think it’s warranted when applied to the current levels of partisanship in the US. Some historians and political analysts fear for the future of our democracy, even as we approach the semiquincentennial (250 years).
Museums have a superpower that can help us tackle this wicked problem: they are one of the most trusted sources of information in America (ranked second only to friends and family), and that trust is non-partisan. I think it’s entirely possible we might look back in 100 years and recognise that museums played a significant role in holding our country together through difficult times, by helping people understand and become more tolerant of other points of view.
The second trend I think has culturally transformative potential is the pivot towards reparative practice. Museums can play a significant role in shifting the dialogue in America from what the law demands to a values-based approach to reparations and restitution for descendant communities.
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of technologies in the museum sector. What does this mean for the future? Museums are, overall, slow to adopt new technologies and new practices. Prior to 2020, relatively few museums implemented practical digital applications – such as business analytics, advanced ticketing and variable pricing – that were transforming for-profit practice.
The pandemic lit a fire under the field, as directors realised these tools weren’t just shiny new toys, they were potential lifesavers.
Going forward, I hope we’ll see a broader appreciation of how an integrated digital strategy can make museums more resilient and successful.
What other lasting impacts is the pandemic having on the museum sector? Public appetite for digital content has ballooned since the start of the pandemic and many museums have expanded the size and diversity of their audience via digital programming. This has presented opportunities, but also threats.
It’s clear digital can be an effective medium to deliver meaningful content and can have a wider impact on the world and so if museums can solve the thorny problem of monetising digital offerings, it could add a whole new income stream to the bottom line.
However, in terms of threats, will school attendance ever rebound, especially now more teachers are aware of the rich trove of online museum content and the convenience of digital field trips?
Even pre-pandemic, the rising cost of transportation and decreasing tolerance for risk had already begun to threaten the traditional school field trip.
What are the challenges for museums in attracting and retaining staff? What trends are impacting the workplace? The US is still in an incredibly tight labour market and that’s teaching us all a great deal about what it means to be a good employer, as workers can vote with their feet if they’re unhappy.
For the most part, successful practices for attracting and retaining staff are the same for nonprofit and for-profit employers: flexibility of working conditions, equitable pay and benefits and pathways to advancement. And, of course, creating a healthy workplace culture, including good communications, fair treatment, and mechanisms for meaningful input.
This might mean a change in the allocation of resources, as museums may have to devote more of their budget to human resources as they commit to paying a living wage and providing critical benefits such as parental leave.
One of the biggest challenges to improving museum jobs is getting over the baggage that comes with nonprofit employment, including the expectation that people are prepared to sacrifice pay for the opportunity to do what they love. Maybe one bright spot from the pandemic will be that the disruption of our assumptions about work will free us to create more equitable jobs.
What positive trends are you seeing? I think the most positive trend in the museum sector over the past century is a shift in its core identity – both in how museums see themselves, and how they’re seen by their communities.
Rather than narrowly identifying themselves by what they do (collect, preserve, interpret), museums increasingly define themselves by the ways in which they can change the world.
In the course of a dozen years of writing TrendsWatch, I’ve documented museums combatting climate change, supporting people who are homeless, advocating for criminal justice reform and fostering empathy. This cause-based work is rooted in their core strengths, but deploys those strengths to meet the needs of their communities.
Individually and collectively, museums are waking up to the power they have to shape the future.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2023 issue 2
Editor's letter: People power
The pandemic has been disruptive for the people in our industry. A new report shares how operators are getting creative to overcome issues
Letters: Write to reply
Liseberg CEO Andreas Andersen tells us 2023 will celebrate the past, but also be the start of something new, while BALPPA CEO Paul Kelly explains why the organisation has launched individual memberships
People: Sarah Roots
The countdown is on to the opening of Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo. We hear the latest
People: David Camp
With Puy du Fou, Eden International and Europa-Park among its clients, D&J International Consulting has done exciting work in its first decade
Interview: Scott O'Neil
US sports and entertainment veteran O’Neil is now CEO of Merlin Entertainments and he has big plans for the company. Magali Robathan sat down with him
Ethics: Reckoning with history
As a ground-breaking project aims to digitally unite Benin Bronzes for the first time, the Horniman Museum becomes the latest institution to return looted artefacts
Research: Elizabeth Merritt
What are the biggest trends affecting the museum sector? The VP of the Center for the Future of Museums shares her thoughts
Research: TrendsWatch: Building the future
A digital revolution, reparations and repatriation, partisan wars and the future of the workplace – key trends highlighted by this year’s TrendsWatch report
Research: China theme parks: New era
China is the world’s second largest market for theme parks and still has huge potential for growth, as a McKinsey report explains
Visitor centre: A golden age: Ad Gefrin
A new multi-million pound Anglo Saxon museum and whiskey distillery tells an old story in a new way. AM talks to the founders
Immersive art: House of Fun: Luna Luna
Works from Luna Luna, a ground-breaking ‘art amusement park’ have languished in storage for 30 years. Now rapper Drake is bringing them back to life
During the lockdowns, a video of Wellington the penguin watching the belugas got 93,000 views on YouTube / Photo: Brenna Hernandez
Visitors put on virtual reality goggles to enter the Kremer Museum / Photo: www.thekremercollection.com
The Philbrook Museum acquired ‘Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV’ by artist Kehunde Wiley who champions diversity / Photo: Kehinde Wiley& Roberts Projects
COMPANY PROFILES
Painting With Light
By combining lighting, video, scenic and architectural elements, sound and special effects we tell s [more...]
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
Since 2015, the VP and founding director of the Center
for the Future of Museums has been tracking the
sector in an annual TrendsWatch publication.
She tells Magali Robathan about this year’s biggest trends and how to capitalise on them
Merritt founded the Center for the Future of Museums in 2008 / Photo: American Alliance of Museums
As a futurist, how do you support museums? I create little temporal anomalies that give museum people a glimpse into what the world might be like, decades hence. That sounds very sci-fi, but it’s a pretty good summary of what a futurist does.
What does your role involve on a day-to-day basis? In day-to-day practice, this involves teaching, forecasting and research. I teach museum people the skills of foresight, starting with a basic awareness of the fact that decisions about long-term organisations, such as museums, need to be made in the context of envisioning long-term futures. What challenges will face their community in 10, 20, or 50 years? What changes will they need to navigate?
Realising that not every museum person has the time to become a futurist, I do some of the groundwork – identifying important trends, creating scenarios that describe worlds museums might inhabit in coming decades, and asking critical questions.
To fuel this work I unearth the information museums need to inform their foresight. That sometimes requires conducting research, whether that’s on public expectations of museums, or trends in museum practice.
What do you see as the most important trends highlighted in this year’s TrendsWatch? Two of the trends this year illustrate the power museums have to help create a better world for all of us. The term ‘existential crisis’ has been overworked in the past few years, but I think it’s warranted when applied to the current levels of partisanship in the US. Some historians and political analysts fear for the future of our democracy, even as we approach the semiquincentennial (250 years).
Museums have a superpower that can help us tackle this wicked problem: they are one of the most trusted sources of information in America (ranked second only to friends and family), and that trust is non-partisan. I think it’s entirely possible we might look back in 100 years and recognise that museums played a significant role in holding our country together through difficult times, by helping people understand and become more tolerant of other points of view.
The second trend I think has culturally transformative potential is the pivot towards reparative practice. Museums can play a significant role in shifting the dialogue in America from what the law demands to a values-based approach to reparations and restitution for descendant communities.
The pandemic accelerated the adoption of technologies in the museum sector. What does this mean for the future? Museums are, overall, slow to adopt new technologies and new practices. Prior to 2020, relatively few museums implemented practical digital applications – such as business analytics, advanced ticketing and variable pricing – that were transforming for-profit practice.
The pandemic lit a fire under the field, as directors realised these tools weren’t just shiny new toys, they were potential lifesavers.
Going forward, I hope we’ll see a broader appreciation of how an integrated digital strategy can make museums more resilient and successful.
What other lasting impacts is the pandemic having on the museum sector? Public appetite for digital content has ballooned since the start of the pandemic and many museums have expanded the size and diversity of their audience via digital programming. This has presented opportunities, but also threats.
It’s clear digital can be an effective medium to deliver meaningful content and can have a wider impact on the world and so if museums can solve the thorny problem of monetising digital offerings, it could add a whole new income stream to the bottom line.
However, in terms of threats, will school attendance ever rebound, especially now more teachers are aware of the rich trove of online museum content and the convenience of digital field trips?
Even pre-pandemic, the rising cost of transportation and decreasing tolerance for risk had already begun to threaten the traditional school field trip.
What are the challenges for museums in attracting and retaining staff? What trends are impacting the workplace? The US is still in an incredibly tight labour market and that’s teaching us all a great deal about what it means to be a good employer, as workers can vote with their feet if they’re unhappy.
For the most part, successful practices for attracting and retaining staff are the same for nonprofit and for-profit employers: flexibility of working conditions, equitable pay and benefits and pathways to advancement. And, of course, creating a healthy workplace culture, including good communications, fair treatment, and mechanisms for meaningful input.
This might mean a change in the allocation of resources, as museums may have to devote more of their budget to human resources as they commit to paying a living wage and providing critical benefits such as parental leave.
One of the biggest challenges to improving museum jobs is getting over the baggage that comes with nonprofit employment, including the expectation that people are prepared to sacrifice pay for the opportunity to do what they love. Maybe one bright spot from the pandemic will be that the disruption of our assumptions about work will free us to create more equitable jobs.
What positive trends are you seeing? I think the most positive trend in the museum sector over the past century is a shift in its core identity – both in how museums see themselves, and how they’re seen by their communities.
Rather than narrowly identifying themselves by what they do (collect, preserve, interpret), museums increasingly define themselves by the ways in which they can change the world.
In the course of a dozen years of writing TrendsWatch, I’ve documented museums combatting climate change, supporting people who are homeless, advocating for criminal justice reform and fostering empathy. This cause-based work is rooted in their core strengths, but deploys those strengths to meet the needs of their communities.
Individually and collectively, museums are waking up to the power they have to shape the future.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2023 issue 2
Editor's letter: People power
The pandemic has been disruptive for the people in our industry. A new report shares how operators are getting creative to overcome issues
Letters: Write to reply
Liseberg CEO Andreas Andersen tells us 2023 will celebrate the past, but also be the start of something new, while BALPPA CEO Paul Kelly explains why the organisation has launched individual memberships
People: Sarah Roots
The countdown is on to the opening of Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo. We hear the latest
People: David Camp
With Puy du Fou, Eden International and Europa-Park among its clients, D&J International Consulting has done exciting work in its first decade
Interview: Scott O'Neil
US sports and entertainment veteran O’Neil is now CEO of Merlin Entertainments and he has big plans for the company. Magali Robathan sat down with him
Ethics: Reckoning with history
As a ground-breaking project aims to digitally unite Benin Bronzes for the first time, the Horniman Museum becomes the latest institution to return looted artefacts
Research: Elizabeth Merritt
What are the biggest trends affecting the museum sector? The VP of the Center for the Future of Museums shares her thoughts
Research: TrendsWatch: Building the future
A digital revolution, reparations and repatriation, partisan wars and the future of the workplace – key trends highlighted by this year’s TrendsWatch report
Research: China theme parks: New era
China is the world’s second largest market for theme parks and still has huge potential for growth, as a McKinsey report explains
Visitor centre: A golden age: Ad Gefrin
A new multi-million pound Anglo Saxon museum and whiskey distillery tells an old story in a new way. AM talks to the founders
Immersive art: House of Fun: Luna Luna
Works from Luna Luna, a ground-breaking ‘art amusement park’ have languished in storage for 30 years. Now rapper Drake is bringing them back to life
During the lockdowns, a video of Wellington the penguin watching the belugas got 93,000 views on YouTube / Photo: Brenna Hernandez
Visitors put on virtual reality goggles to enter the Kremer Museum / Photo: www.thekremercollection.com
The Philbrook Museum acquired ‘Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV’ by artist Kehunde Wiley who champions diversity / Photo: Kehinde Wiley& Roberts Projects
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
Royal Caribbean has revealed its Hero of the Seas cruise ship, home to the most pools at sea
(nine), and a record-breaking 28 dining venues, as well as attractions including a waterpark
with two new family raft slides.
+ More news
COMPANY PROFILES
Painting With Light By combining lighting, video, scenic and architectural elements, sound and special effects we tell s [more...]
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
