MuseumNext is heading down under as the global conference series on the future of museums gears up for its debut in Melbourne, Australia.

Produced in partnership with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), the three-day event, which kicks off tomorrow (15 February), will bring exploratory talks on engaging visitors with new technology and industry trends.

The first day will comprise a series of workshops, including a session looking at the spectrum of audience engagement led by Western Australian Museum CEO, Alec Coles and insight specialists Morris Hargreaves McIntyre founder, Andrew McIntyre.

Day one will also feature a number of tours to famous Melbourne landmarks and institutions, with trips to Arts Centre Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Heide Museum of Modern Art and the State Library of Victoria among the offerings on tap.

Elaine Heumann Gurian will deliver the keynote speech on day two, dubbed “The Importance of And”. Gurian – a consultant and advisor to museums and visitor centers that are beginning, building, or reinventing themselves – will discuss past reliance of some learning theories, exploring newer alternatives including technology-based understandings such as connectivism and complex cognitive theory.

The final day will see Jason Scott, free range archivist and software curator at the Internet Archive – a nonprofit tasked with saving the content of the world – take delegates on a “perilous and loud journey through the wastelands of 21st century copyright” in the world of archives and digital preservation.

Day three will end with the Museums Directors Panel, chaired by ACMI’s Seb Chan, with the panel comprising; Courtney Johnston, director of New Zeland’s Hutt City Museums; Honor Harger, executive director of the ArtScience Museum in Singapore; Emily Ansenk, director of Rotterdam’s Kunsthal; Western Australian Museum CEO Alec Coles; and Katrina Sedgewick, director and CEO of ACMI.

MuseumNext will conclude with a reception in the Melbourne Museum’s Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery. The new AU$5.8m (US$4.5m, €4.2m, £3.6m) exhibit is designed for children aged 0-5 and was created with input from more than 500 kids within that age bracket. The reception will offer delegates a final opportunity to network with fellow museum professionals before the event’s conclusion.

For more information on MuseumNext, click here.