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
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
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger
cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance,
hospitality and public programming.
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
