2019 Education and Outreach Forum

The annual Irish Museums Association's Education and Outreach (E+O) forum was held on the 5 July 2019 at the Lecture theatre, National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts and History. 

From projects at pilot stage to results of final evaluation, covering disciplines from archaeology to art, the Ed+O forum is a key event in the calendar for museum and cultural practitioners and educators to meet and discuss topics of interest to their learning and engagement programmes.

Speakers took part in panel sessions and present discussion papers at this one-day forum exploring developments in museum education and community engagement, bringing together a diverse range of voices that will discuss the shift towards a user-led philosophy in our museums:          

• Diversity and Inclusion World Café at the National Library of Ireland - Maeve Casserly, Exhibitions, Learning, and Programming (ELP), National Library of Ireland.
• 14 Henrietta Street: A case study in audience-centered thinking - Aalia Kamal, Head of Engagement and Gemma Sexton, Head of Visitor Experience, Dublin City Council Culture Company         
• ‘Reimagine, Remake, Replay’- Engaging young people with heritage through digital and creative technologies - Tríona White Hamilton, Development Officer, Northern Ireland Museums Council and Jamie Austin, Causeway Coast and Glens Museum Service
• Culture Club Evolution - Siobhan Pierce, Education Officer for Archaeology and Natural History and Annie Birney, Museum Educator for Archaeology, National Museum of Ireland, and TBC, Dublin City Council Culture Company
• Coding Culture: Closing the Gap between History and Technology - Claire Murray, Head of Education, Irish Family History Centre and Shannon Wilson, Education and Outreach Officer, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum.      
• Working to Become Dementia Friendly - Rachel Toner, Visitor Engagement Officer, Armagh Robinson Library
• Connecting people, places and heritage - Gary Martin, Outreach Officer, Cavan Co Museum     
• Living Inside: six voices from the history of prison reform - Brian Crowley, Curator of Collections, Kilmainham Gaol Museum and Oisín Wall, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland, UCD
• Curious Creatures: A Community Outreach Project at the Hugh Lane Gallery - Kimberly Ann Griffith, Fulbright Scholar, Hugh Lane Gallery

The IMA gratefully acknowledges the support received from our host venue, the National Museum of Ireland, and the core funding the IMA receives from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Heritage Council of Ireland.

Click here to download and view the detailed schedule, presentation abstracts and biographies of speakers.