The International Council of Museums (ICOM) has announced that the ICOM UK conference this year will take place in Liverpool from 1 – 2 May 2025, centered around the theme Regenerative Museums for Sustainable Futures.
This two-day event will feature lectures, panel discussions, and an evening reception on the first day, followed by workshops and guided tours of the city and museums on the second day. With more international speakers than ever, attendees can expect practical examples, case studies, and stimulating discussions- making this conference an essential event for the global museum community.
See also: Conversation, adaptation, & being brave: innovation in exhibits
Hybrid event
This year, the conference introduces a fully hybrid format, allowing online delegates to attend Day 1’s lectures live from anywhere globally. Day 2, however, will be exclusively for in-person participants.
Highlights include a keynote looking at an adaptive resilience pathway in response to climate and social collapse, delivered by Lucimara Letelier, director of RegeneraMuseu, vice chair of ICOM Sustain, Brazil, and researcher at the University of Leicester, UK.
There will also be a keynote from Ineza Umuhoza Grace, CEO of The Green Protector, co-ordinator of the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, and 2023 Global Citizen Prize winner, Rwanda, exploring a hopeful reality amidst the climate change crisis.
The 2025 ICOM UK Conference is a collaboration between ICOM UK, the National Museum Directors’ Council and RegeneraMuseu, with support from Barker Langham, the British Council, Narro Associates, National Museums Liverpool, and the University of Liverpool Museums and Collections.
To view the full conference programme and register for the event, please click here.
Earlier this year, ICOM, along with the Design Museum in London, suggested several actions to develop more sustainable exhibitions. A 2021 Ipsos MORI poll in the UK showed that respondents rated museum curators as more trusted than the police, judges and the clergy. As global anxiety rises amid the climate crisis, the poll revealed that museums are uniquely positioned to inspire climate action while making changes in-house.
