Ecomuseum

Ecomuseums originated in France, the concept being developed by George Henri Rivière and Hugues de Varine, who coined the term ‘ecomusée’ in 1971 [Marie-Odile de Bary, André Desvalles, Françoise Wasserman (editors), 1994, "Vagues: une anthologie de la nouvelle muséologie", Mâcon; Savigny-le Temple (77), Editions W ; M.N.E.S.] . The term "éco" is a shortened form for "écologie", but it refers especially to a new idea of holistic interpretation of cultural heritage, in opposition to the focus on specific items and objects, performed by traditional museums [Peter Davis, 1999, "Ecomuseums: a sense of place", Leicester University Press] .

An ecomuseum is a museum focused on the identity of a place, largely based on local participation and aiming to enhance the welfare and development of local communities.

There are presently about 300 operating ecomuseums in the world; about 200 are in Europe, mainly in France, Italy, Spain and Poland [For an up to date directory of websites on this subject, see Clémence Perrier-Latour, 2005, [http://icom.museum/ecomuseums_links.html Web links and bibliography on ecomuseums] , ICOM News, n. 3/2005] .

Development

Introduced by the French museologist Hugues de Varine in 1971, the word "ecomuseum" has often been misused and the definition of an ecomuseum is still a controversial matter for contemporary museology [Andrea Hauenschild, 1998, [http://museumstudies.si.edu/claims2000.htm Claims and reality of new museology : case studies in Canada, the United States and Mexico] , Washington, D.C. : Center for Museum Studies, Smithsonian Institution.] . Many museologists sought to define the distinctive features of ecomuseums, listing their characteristics [For a synthetic view on ecomuseum definitions, see: Gerard Corsane, Peter Davis, Sarah Elliott, Maurizio Maggi, Donatella Murtas & Sally Rogers, "Ecomuseum Evaluation: Experiences in Piemonte and Liguria, Italy", International Journal of Heritage Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2, March 2007, pp. 101–116] .

Following a complexity approach, in recent definitions, ecomuseums are more properly defined by "what they do" rather than by "what they are" [See Coveney Peter and Roger Highfield,1995, "Frontiers of Complexity", Faber & Faber, New York-London, (p. 17) on the difference between "form" and "matter" in complex evaluation and Gerard Corsane, Peter Davis, Sarah Elliott, Maurizio Maggi, Donatella Murtas & Sally Rogers, "Ecomuseum Performance in Piemonte and Liguria, Italy: The Significance of Capital", International Journal of Heritage Studies, Vol. 13, No. 3, May 2007, pp. 224–239 for an applied example] .

Definition from the European Network of Ecomuseums

An Ecomuseum is a dynamic way in which communities preserve, interpret, and manage their heritage for a sustainable development. An Ecomuseum is based on a community agreement.

— "Declaration of Intent of the Long Net Workshop", Trento (Italy), May 2004

"Dynamic way" means to go beyond the formal aspect of an ecomuseum, beyond a simple set course, designed on paper; it is about designing real actions, able to change our society and improve our landscape. Community means a group with:

* General involvement;
* Shared responsibilities;
* Interchangeable roles: public officers, representatives, volunteers and other local actors are all playing a vital role in an ecomuseum.

"Community" involvement does not mean that local administrations, a unique historical heritage of European democracy, are irrelevant. On the contrary their role, to be effective, must involve people, going beyond the narrow circle of “"authorized personnel"”.

"Preservation, interpretation and management" means that reading and communicating heritage values, providing new interpretations of it and raising its profile, are part of the day-to-day activity for ecomuseums. "Heritage" is very close to Place as a notion, including history of inhabitants and things, what is visible and what it is not, tangibles and intangibles, memories and future.

"Sustainable development" is a central issue for ecomuseums and it implies also to increase the value of a place instead of diminishing it. Evidence from best practices identifies in this process two key elements: place-based development, as previously described, and the improvement of local networks, where ecomuseums have to play a key role as catalysts of social capital development.

"Agreement" means a mutual consent, implying reciprocal commitments between local players. The Polish national meeting, once more, put forward the idea of “voluntary meeting of people”.

References

External links

Further details

* [http://www.osservatorioecomusei.net/PDF/UK/intentiUK.pdf Declaration of Intent]
* [http://www.osservatorioecomusei.net/start.php?PHPSESSID=95ba66425378982b3a64f3c3e5e4cd0d&stat=&ris=h&mf=ws_workshop Network of Ecomuseums]
* [http://www.osservatorioecomusei.net/PDF/UK/definizioneUK.pdf What does "ecomuseum" mean for the contemporary museology (PDF)]

Related websites

* [http://www.interactions-online.comIOL (Interactions On Line)]
* [http://www.ecomuseums.eu OE (Outlook on Ecomuseums) ]
* [http://www.fems.asso.fr FEMS (Fédération écomusées, France)]

Examples

*Kalyna Country (Canada)
* [http://www.livingmuseum.org.au/ Living Museum of the West] (Australia)
* [http://www.quarteirao.com.br/ Ecomuseu do Matadouro] (Brazil)
* [http://www.chinaguizhou.gov.cn/scenes02/11.htm Suojia Miao people ecomuseum] (China)
* [http://www.azcama.com/museums/akchin.htm Ak-Chin ecomuseum] (USA)
* [http://www.ekomuseum.se/ Ekomuseum Bergslagen] (Sweden)
* [http://www.totenmuseet.no/ Toten Økomuseum] (Norway)
* [http://www.ecomuseo.casentino.toscana.it/ Ecomuseo del Casentino] (Italy)
* [http://www.ecomuseodeiterrazzamenti.it/ Ecomuseo dei Terrazzamenti] (Italy)
* [http://www.ecomuseum.dk/ Søhøjlandets Økomuseum] (Denmark)
* [http://www.ecomuseum.kz Karaganda Ecological Museum] (Kazakhstan)
* [http://www.batana.org/ Kuća o batani - Casa della batana] (Croatia)
* [http://www.ecomusee-alsace.fr Ecomusée d'Alsace] (France)
* [http://eco-museum.org Ecomusée d'Alsace] (German website, France)