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News
Shaping the Future Together: Inclusion, Sustainability and New Perspectives for Exhibitions
How can museums embed inclusion permanently in their organisations, promote sustainability across national borders and find new ways of collaborating on exhibition projects? Three sessions in the MUTEC 2026 conference programme address these questions and demonstrate the potential of exchanging experiences and perspectives. They focus on the results of two multi-year collaborative projects as well as the importance of courage and trust in exhibition practice. The sessions explore practical solutions, international cooperation and how museums can work together to meet the challenges of the future.
Embedding Inclusion in Museums for the Long Term: Lessons Learned and Best Practices from the Inclusion Network
Although there is broad agreement that museums and exhibitions should be designed and implemented inclusively, putting this principle into practice remains challenging.
Most institutions face similar obstacles. Over a period of four years, seven museums had the opportunity to work together as part of a funded collaborative project to develop sustainable solutions for inclusive museum and exhibition design.
The participating institutions included the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, the Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin, the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden, the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Foundation in Bonn, the Klassik Stiftung Weimar, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg and the Schleswig-Holstein State Museums at Schloss Gottorf.
Representatives of the participating museums will present the project's findings and experiences at MUTEC. Afterwards, they will be available for discussion and networking.
Thursday, 5 November, 12:00–1:00 p.m., MUTEC Forum (Hall 4, C26)
Sustainable, International, Intercultural: GreenMuseumHub Connects Egypt, Germany and Tunisia
The GreenMuseumHub network brings together museum and heritage studies departments at the universities of Würzburg in Germany, Helwan in Egypt and La Manouba in Tunisia, along with 30 partner museums.
Through conferences, study visits in the participating countries and online lectures, the network explored the challenges and opportunities of ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability.
As a final collaborative project, 37 students developed the sustainable pop-up exhibition “We Wanna Live!”.
Travelling between the three countries, the exhibition uses creative, accessible approaches in four project languages – Arabic, German, English and French – to demonstrate how cultural institutions can recycle resources, reduce their digital carbon footprints and remove barriers to social participation.
The travelling exhibition will also be on display at MUTEC 2026, bringing the results of this international collaboration directly to visitors.
Thursday, 5 November, 5:15–5:45 p.m., MUTEC Forum (Hall 4, C26)
Daring to Trust – Finding the Courage to Create: New Perspectives for Exhibition Practice
Trust and courage shape exhibition projects in many ways. They influence decisions, enable collaboration and create opportunities for new ideas. Yet these two factors are rarely discussed explicitly in everyday exhibition practice.
The joint conference organised by VerA and the Exhibitions Working Group of the German Museums Association will explore courage and trust as emotions and social forces.
To open the event, Friedrich von Borries will offer insights from a design theory perspective, focusing on the future viability of exhibition practice.
The programme will also feature practical examples of successful collaborations and a joint discussion about the challenges and obstacles associated with trust and courage in exhibition projects.
Friday, 6 November, 3:30–5:30 p.m., MUTEC Forum (Hall 4, C26)
