Case studies: Beyond the Campus
Share Academy: Cross-sector partnership between Museums and Higher Education
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Share Academy is a partnership project between University College London, University of the Arts London, and London Museums Group - funded by Arts Council England for two years until April 2015. The current iteration of Share Academy is based on a six month pilot project which took place from October 2012 to March 2013. It is this pilot project which shaped the direction and ethos of Share Academy.
The fundamental principal of Share Academy is that cross-sector partnerships between museums and higher education (HE) are valuable and beneficial to both organisations. Often partnerships are built on the interests of two individuals, meaning that they are likely lack strategic vision or become embedded at organisational level. Share Academy is researching how to make these partnerships and collaborations more sustainable and mutually beneficial in the future. It has developed a funding programme and helped broker relationships between museums and academics to support its research.
Beyond the Campus had the opportunity to invite Laura Lannin to our most recent conference, where she presented the idea behind Share Academy and their recent projects.
The fundamental principal of Share Academy is that cross-sector partnerships between museums and higher education (HE) are valuable and beneficial to both organisations. Often partnerships are built on the interests of two individuals, meaning that they are likely lack strategic vision or become embedded at organisational level. Share Academy is researching how to make these partnerships and collaborations more sustainable and mutually beneficial in the future. It has developed a funding programme and helped broker relationships between museums and academics to support its research.
Beyond the Campus had the opportunity to invite Laura Lannin to our most recent conference, where she presented the idea behind Share Academy and their recent projects.
Interview with Laura Lannin, Academic Coordinator at Share Academy (UCL Public and Cultural Engagemen)
What projects have been brokered and funded by Share Academy?
In November 2013 Share Academy brokered and funded 15 cross-sector partnership projects; providing each with grants of up-to £10,000. Many projects aimed to either enhance museum collections or engage specific communities. Examples include Garden Stories and the The History of Publishing
Garden Stories is a collaboration between UAL MA Narrative Environments and Bexley Heritage Trust. The MA students are investigating the stories of Hall Place Gardens and co-curating a temporary exhibition, housed in Hall Place. This exhibition aims to bring garden visitors into the house. The students are contributing to the goals of Bexley Heritage Trust whilst learning invaluable skills working on a real heritage project.
The History of Publishing is a collaboration between UCL Publishing and the William Morris Society. The partnership aims to enhance understanding of the Museums’ collections and works of Morris through the publication of a book which highlights some aspects of the Society’s collections and history – focussing in particular on Morris’s belief in books as objects of beauty.
In November 2013 Share Academy brokered and funded 15 cross-sector partnership projects; providing each with grants of up-to £10,000. Many projects aimed to either enhance museum collections or engage specific communities. Examples include Garden Stories and the The History of Publishing
Garden Stories is a collaboration between UAL MA Narrative Environments and Bexley Heritage Trust. The MA students are investigating the stories of Hall Place Gardens and co-curating a temporary exhibition, housed in Hall Place. This exhibition aims to bring garden visitors into the house. The students are contributing to the goals of Bexley Heritage Trust whilst learning invaluable skills working on a real heritage project.
The History of Publishing is a collaboration between UCL Publishing and the William Morris Society. The partnership aims to enhance understanding of the Museums’ collections and works of Morris through the publication of a book which highlights some aspects of the Society’s collections and history – focussing in particular on Morris’s belief in books as objects of beauty.
What do you see as the benefits to cross-sectorial collaborative working?
There are benefits to both the HE partner and the museum partner in developing cross-sectoral partnerships. For the museum these partnerships can be a powerful way in which museums enhance understanding of their collections; provide new interpretations of their collections, buildings, or settings; engage specific community or special interest groups; and attract new audiences. For the Higher Education Institution (HEI) they can provide a means to develop and test research; contribute to the Research Excellence Framework impact agenda; provide opportunities for public engagements; or provide real-world, research-based teaching and learning opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
What do you see as the challenges to cross-sectorial collaborative working?
There can be a number of challenges in creating museum/HE cross-sectoral partnerships. Locating the right academic or department or museum can be difficult, and it’s highly probable that the academics will not know of the potential - or even the existence of small, independent museums or what is in their collections. Therefore finding a potential partner can be the most complex part of the whole process. Another challenge in developing partnerships is that assumptions can be made about the value of working together without thinking about how the two organisations differ. For example the academic year informs how HEIs run; summer time is quiet and academics are often not available due conferences and research time away from the institution, whilst contacting a museum in March before the end of their financial year is unlikely to lead to a productive outcome. It is, possibly, also an important point to note that the HE financial year differs to that of the museum sector; demonstrating different pressure points within both organisations that the other is unlikely to be aware of. In addition to this the majority of museums in the UK are very under resourced, with considerable pressure on budgets, staff time, and facilities (a lot are volunteer run and grant funded) and this is often misunderstood or not fully considered by Higher Education Institutions requests for support or collaboration.
What are the valuable lessons being explored by Share Academy?
It was clear from the pilot projects that the more successful and truly mutually beneficial projects were begun after all partners came to a of joint agreement on the principles and aims of the partnership, the activities that each partner would undertake and why, what support would be provided through the partnership, and agreed outputs and outcomes. To support these agreements a Memorandum of Understanding was created and a project plan developed.
It was with this is mind that that the future iteration of Share Academy was founded and why we required all funded projects to have an open and honest conversation about their projects’ aims; ensuring that the project was of mutual benefit to both organisations. These conversations have fed into their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) outlining the projects’ goals, accompanied by a Gantt chart to define when specific and expected activities would take place. The MoUs are not legally binding, although we have come up against some opposition to them from a HE perspective. As such in the future Share Academy may advise collaborators not to undertake a MoU, but to document the aims, objectives and purpose of the project partnership from the outset in a different format, but one that is agreeable to all. The intention behind implementing written documentation from the start is that it provides all involved with an opportunity to be honest about what they can and cannot contribute to the project, limiting the potential for miscommunication; it also provides the project and its participants with a reflective framework in which they can measure their progress and address challenges in a more strategic, rather than ad hoc, manner.
Share Academy is continuing to research how museums and higher education partnerships and collaborations can be supported and developed. It is hoped by the end of the project (March 2015) we will have identified a range of approaches that are suitable for collaborations of any size and shape. Our findings, recommendations, and support materials will be available for people from higher education, museums, and the wider cultural heritage sector from April 2015.
(edited by Silvie Jacobi)
There are benefits to both the HE partner and the museum partner in developing cross-sectoral partnerships. For the museum these partnerships can be a powerful way in which museums enhance understanding of their collections; provide new interpretations of their collections, buildings, or settings; engage specific community or special interest groups; and attract new audiences. For the Higher Education Institution (HEI) they can provide a means to develop and test research; contribute to the Research Excellence Framework impact agenda; provide opportunities for public engagements; or provide real-world, research-based teaching and learning opportunities for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
What do you see as the challenges to cross-sectorial collaborative working?
There can be a number of challenges in creating museum/HE cross-sectoral partnerships. Locating the right academic or department or museum can be difficult, and it’s highly probable that the academics will not know of the potential - or even the existence of small, independent museums or what is in their collections. Therefore finding a potential partner can be the most complex part of the whole process. Another challenge in developing partnerships is that assumptions can be made about the value of working together without thinking about how the two organisations differ. For example the academic year informs how HEIs run; summer time is quiet and academics are often not available due conferences and research time away from the institution, whilst contacting a museum in March before the end of their financial year is unlikely to lead to a productive outcome. It is, possibly, also an important point to note that the HE financial year differs to that of the museum sector; demonstrating different pressure points within both organisations that the other is unlikely to be aware of. In addition to this the majority of museums in the UK are very under resourced, with considerable pressure on budgets, staff time, and facilities (a lot are volunteer run and grant funded) and this is often misunderstood or not fully considered by Higher Education Institutions requests for support or collaboration.
What are the valuable lessons being explored by Share Academy?
It was clear from the pilot projects that the more successful and truly mutually beneficial projects were begun after all partners came to a of joint agreement on the principles and aims of the partnership, the activities that each partner would undertake and why, what support would be provided through the partnership, and agreed outputs and outcomes. To support these agreements a Memorandum of Understanding was created and a project plan developed.
It was with this is mind that that the future iteration of Share Academy was founded and why we required all funded projects to have an open and honest conversation about their projects’ aims; ensuring that the project was of mutual benefit to both organisations. These conversations have fed into their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) outlining the projects’ goals, accompanied by a Gantt chart to define when specific and expected activities would take place. The MoUs are not legally binding, although we have come up against some opposition to them from a HE perspective. As such in the future Share Academy may advise collaborators not to undertake a MoU, but to document the aims, objectives and purpose of the project partnership from the outset in a different format, but one that is agreeable to all. The intention behind implementing written documentation from the start is that it provides all involved with an opportunity to be honest about what they can and cannot contribute to the project, limiting the potential for miscommunication; it also provides the project and its participants with a reflective framework in which they can measure their progress and address challenges in a more strategic, rather than ad hoc, manner.
Share Academy is continuing to research how museums and higher education partnerships and collaborations can be supported and developed. It is hoped by the end of the project (March 2015) we will have identified a range of approaches that are suitable for collaborations of any size and shape. Our findings, recommendations, and support materials will be available for people from higher education, museums, and the wider cultural heritage sector from April 2015.
(edited by Silvie Jacobi)