Reflecting on the past, looking into the future! An experience during the 17th International Conference on the Inclusive Museum.

From 13 to 15 September, our EU Cultural Ambassador, Mario Chatzidamianos , represented Diversity Atlas at the 17th International Conference on the Inclusive Museum in Vienna, Austria, to present a research paper on our?'Catalyst for Peace' project, which maps diversity in museums. Read his reflecting article on what he experienced.?

The conference’s main theme was Intersectionality: Museums, Inclusion and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and was organised by the International Institute for the Inclusive Museum, in association with ICOM Austria and the UNESCO Chair for the Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development.?

"To my surprise, what I expected was not what I found. Usually in such events, individuals focus on their siloed approaches to the subject in question, but this was not the case for this conference. The fresh ideas from more than 70 students presenting thesis, dissertations, projects, and initiatives, alongside contributions from 70 well-established academics from five continents, turned the three days into a mind-bending rollercoaster.

Each presentation caused my heart to burst with joy, thinking of the generations to follow our path, and at the same time, with every presentation I was pulled up short by the realisation that we are looking for new solutions using old methodologies.

Many of the presentations were somehow related to engaging stakeholders, in terms of co-developing creative approaches, and in none of them was I seeing the insights the Diversity Atlas platform offers. The same applied in terms of research, and the problem is that none of the presentations was offering a clear description of whom these audiences are, and how they relate their own cultural perspectives with the suggested content or activity.

This is where our project made a huge difference and helped participants understand that it is crucial for all cultural venues, museums and academics in the field to be able to understand the value in Diversity Atlas’s democratised (inclusive, holistic, comprehensive, extensive, whichever word you prefer) datasets, enabling anyone to culturally self-identify, and help them enhance and maintain their creative, psychological resilience. Other approaches lacked the democratised datasets that make our approach so all-inclusive.

My excitement reached sky-high, having the opportunity to discuss these issues with legends in the field of cultural development, such as Professor Amareswar Galla, PhD , Chair of UNESCO’s Inclusive Museums and Sustainable Heritage Development, the president of ICOM Austria Johanna Schwanberg, Karalyn Monteil , UNESCO’s Head of Programs & Stakeholders Outreach (FR), Phillip Kalantzis Cope, PhD , Chief Social Scientist Common Ground Research Networks, Professor Laura Broekhoven from Oxford University, and Charles Landry , a long-time inspiration who’s been infusing me with the idea of developing a culture for creativity and new paradigm for cities.

Whether or not you attended the conference, I invite you to subscribe to our newsletter and read our paper, which was developed in collaboration with the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre . A huge shout-out to Peter Mousaferiadis , Tali Nates , Srinjoy Bose, and Sadaf Taimur, Ph.D. for entrusting me with their project’s representation, and to Salzburg Global , for bringing us together under the Asia Peace Innovators Forum initiative, supported by The Nippon Foundation.

Additionally, the Diversity Atlas team is creating a short guide on how to develop, maintain and evolve your stakeholders’ engagement, from employees to vendors, and from visitors to neighbouring communities, wherever your cultural organisation operates, so keep an eye on our Social Media accounts to get your copy.

A special thank you to Welt Museum’s employees, who assisted me in my time of need, when my health was affected by the weather conditions in Vienna; and my sympathy for the other people impacted by the non-stop, six days’ rain."

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