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Directors Forum 2010: Change

2 November 2010 - 4 November 2010

50 Ecsite members participated in the Ecsite Directors' Forum 2010, hosted by the Natural History Museum, London. “Bad Science” writer Ben Goldacre, agricultural biologist Angelika Hilbeck, cultural sector expert John Holden and HR specialist Duncan Mayo were among the keynote speakers at this year’s Forum, 2-4 December 2010, which addressed the theme of change. This event is the most important annual meeting for directors of science centres and museums in Europe.

Take a look at the pictures on Ecsite's Flickr account.

The Directors’ Forum is an event for the directors of all Full Members of Ecsite to come together and tackle key questions in our field. Faced with an ever-changing society and economy, how do science centres and museums adapt to the challenges that these changes bring? Among the the Natural History Museum’s awe-inspiring 70 million specimens, participants looked at the types of change that affect us, and the changes we make as an institution.

The format of the sessions was simple: it focused on inspiration from outside, and in-depth discussion among directors. We took four topics relating to change, and each topic formed the basis of a session. One of four innovative, sparky keynote speakers launched each topic with a brief, provocative, inspiring presentation, drawing on stories from their work, ideas from other fields and from broader perspectives. Heads buzzing with ideas, directors followed up each presentation with in-depth discussion groups, allowing the time to thoroughly talk over the issues raised, sharing ideas and directors drawing their own conclusions among themselves.

Four keynote speakers raised key questions for our institutions. How is science changing in its relationship to society, and what stance do our institutions adopt in response? The media, too, is rapidly evolving - what institutional changes do science centres and museums need to make, in order to keep up? What does the future hold for our field, and how will we need to position ourselves in the years to come? And how can we become institutions which truly change the world?

Keynote speakers included:

* Ben Goldacre, columnist for the Guardian newspaper, blogger and author of bestseller Bad Science, on the changing relationship between science and the media;
* Angelika Hilbeck, senior researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and chair of the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility, on the changing stakes in scientific research, and the consequences for the field of public engagement;
* John Holden, associate at UK thinktank Demos and Visiting Professor at City University on creative approaches to organisational change.
* Duncan Mayo, Human Resources Manager for John Wiley & Sons (previously Blackwell Publishing) in Oxford, on change and human capital.

Ecsite as a network faces some significant strategic changes too. We extended the Directors’ Forum to incorporate a crucial Extraordinary Meeting of Ecsite Full members in order to discuss the proposed revision of the statutes of our network as an organisation. This discussion resulted in a final revision to be voted on during the AGM at the Ecsite Annual Conference in Warsaw, 2011.

On Saturday morning we also involved Ecsite Full members in the strategic planning process currently underway, in order to ensure all Full members have the opportunity to have their say in planning Ecsite’s future work.

Reports

Host

The Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is both a world-leading science research centre and the most visited natural history museum in Europe. With a vision of a future in which both people and the planet thrive, it is uniquely positioned to be a powerful champion for balancing humanity’s needs with those of the natural world.

It is custodian of one of the world’s most important scientific collections comprising over 80 million specimens. The scale of this collection enables researchers from all over the world to document how species have and continue to respond to environmental changes – which is vital in helping predict what might happen in the future and informing future policies and plans to help the planet.

The Museum’s 300 scientists continue to represent one of the largest groups in the world studying and enabling research into every aspect of the natural world. Their science is contributing critical data to help the global fight to save the future of the planet from the major threats of climate change and biodiversity loss through to finding solutions such as the sustainable extraction of natural resources.

The Museum uses its enormous global reach and influence to meet its mission to create advocates for the planet – to inform, inspire and empower everyone to make a difference for nature. We welcome over five million visitors each year, our digital output reaches hundreds of thousands of people in over 200 countries each month and our touring exhibitions have been seen by around 30 million people in the last 10 years.