Seminar: Museums as Social Enterprise (London/UK, 21 July 2009)

Museums as Social Enterprise: Doing Good and Earning Income
One-Day Seminar
London, 21 July 2009

"Advancing a social mission through entrepreneurial earned income strategies" - this is what Social Enterprise is all about.

And by launching new initiatives for the long-term unemployed, offenders, people with disabilities, or sustainability, museums are increasingly adopting this approach. As well as having a positive impact, these initiatives can - and are - generating significant extra income. In this small-group seminar, UK and international experience will be shared, and both recent research studies and current initiatives used, to highlight the current results and future potential of this important new trend.

Social Enterprises are businesses whose social or environmental purpose is central to what they do. It's about making things happen; about using skills to make a difference. Social enterprises often break with conventional business models to find new and more sustainable ways of improving the world around them.

From History to Policy
In the UK, the social enterprise tradition can be traced at least as far back to 1840s to Rochdale, where a workers' co-operative was set up to provide high-quality, affordable food in response to poor factory conditions. The original store is now itself a museum.

The concept is now a key element of Government strategy, with the Social Enterprise Unit forming part of the Office of the Third Sector, within the UK Cabinet Office.

Now, more and more museums - including the Eden Centre and the Museum of East Anglian Life - are finding that this model reflects the range of services they want to provide. This seminar aims to explore whether the approach can and should be more widely adopted within the museum community.

This event is primarily aimed at museum professionals who have some experience in this area, however limited, or who are seriously interested in engaging with it in future. Speakers will include Tony Butler, Director of the Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket and other leading UK and international practitioners in the field.

This event will be based at the stylish Hoxton Hotel in Central London, and will start at 10.00 and end by 17.00.

Delegate fee: £245 includes lunch, refreshments and resource materials.

Contact:
Graeme Farnell
MuseumsEtc
8 Albany Street
EH1 3QB Edinburgh
Great Britain

graeme.farnell@gmail.com
0131 467 2791
www.museumsetc.com

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H-MUSEUM
H-Net Network for Museums and Museum Studies
E-Mail: h-museum@h-net.msu.edu
WWW: http://www.h-museum.net

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