The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) will host the 2024 Future of Museums Summit online from 29 to 30 October 2024. The event will explore how climate change, AI, the loneliness crisis, and culture wars might all significantly impact the future of the museum industry.
Attendees can choose from a wide range of concurrent live sessions throughout the two-day event and view those they have missed on-demand until 31 January 2025. In addition to these sessions, the Future of Museums Summit will feature a keynote speaker and four Big Idea sessions.
Keynote address
This year, the keynote will be delivered by Rob Hopkins, a renowned author and activist, who will explore how museums can play a vital role in rekindling our collective imagination to foster a future that has addressed our current climate and ecological emergency. He will talk about how cultural institutions might encourage visitors to imagine and strive towards a more sustainable, vibrant and hopeful future that satisfies the UN sustainability goals for 2030, drawing on his extensive work on the power of imagination.
Hopkins is the co-founder of Transition Network and of Transition Town Totnes and the author of several books, including The Transition Handbook and From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want.
Big Ideas
Each Future of Museums Summit session track (AI Adolescence, Culture Wars 2.0, Decarbonizing the Future, and Combating the Loneliness Crisis) includes a Big Idea session with expert speakers.
AI & Museums: Beyond the Hype and the Backlash will be presented by Sree Sreenivasan, an NYC-based CEO and co-founder of Digimentors, a social/digital/AI training and consulting company. AI can help museums in everything from marketing to audience engagement to collections management, but the pitfalls and challenges of AI in the cultural space are not often discussed.
Are We Really That Polarized? will be led by Mathieu Lefevre, CEO and co-founder of More in Common. At a time when we appear more divided than ever, he will present evidence to show that part of this is an illusion, albeit a dangerous one. This session will explore the factors contributing to the polarisation illusion, including the role of the media, social media, and the ‘polarization industrial complex.’ He’ll also discuss museums’ critical role as convening places and community spaces.
Meanwhile, Dr Susan Clayton, the Whitmore-Williams Professor and Chair of Psychology at the College of Wooster in Ohio, will present The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change. Climate change can significantly impact our psychological well-being, including threats to identity and grief over environmental losses. This session will focus on these effects and the potential for informal learning centres like museums to communicate information effectively and inspire action.
In Museums and Loneliness: Opportunities for Immediate Action, Dr Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH, a primary-care physician, public health practitioner, and award-winning poet, will unpack and demystify loneliness as an urgent public health crisis, drawing on fundamental principles from his recently published book, Project UnLonely: Healing Our Crisis of Disconnection. He will offer insights and strategies that can position museums as leaders in fostering meaningful connections among their patrons, visitors, and the broader community.
In addition, the 2024 Future of Museums Summit will include opportunities to connect with other museum professionals in the Social Lounge and Play and Practice Sessions. T
To view the full schedule and register, please click here.
Earlier this year, AAM announced the appointment of Marilyn Jackson as president and CEO following an extensive national search.
