The Museum as a Cultural Catalyst: A Review from the Perspective of Social Museology, Non-Formal Education and Communication

Abstract

This text proposes a review of the social perspective of museums, based on the results obtained in my doctoral research, completed in 2019, which formulated a cultural management methodology based on citizen participation to connect with the environment. Following the different lines of action that emerged in the thesis, the present paper proposes an exploration of the current situation of museums as transformative spaces responsible for socio-cultural action in a given context. The experiences analysed make it clear that both education and new communication technologies will play a fundamental role in the conception of a more social museum. In turn, the type of institution that is proposed will have to favour the involvement of citizens and, therefore, collaborate in the development of the environment in which it is located. Museum institutions would thus become, as is already happening in several cases, cultural catalysts, that is, key spaces for the socio-cultural growth of a specific context.