Creative Collaborations: Museums Engaging with Communities and Climate Change

Abstract

When museums and communities collaborate on fostering public engagement in climate change the results are powerful. Coming together around collections, co-producing and sharing knowledge, and creating outreach programs, members of specific cultural or interest groups can catalyze changes in perceptions within broad audiences. Museums are now considering the human and cultural dimensions of climate change more fully than in previous, more science-focused, phases. Museums have been gradually exploring more imaginative ways to captivate audiences and communicate views from people on the “front line”. This paper employs views from inside two particular institutions and their relationships with Pacific Islanders to explore the dynamics and challenges of collaborating creatively and effectively around climate change communication.