Submission of papers for the 2026 edition of the conference has now concluded.
Museum in Collaboration: Professional Practice and Co-Created Heritage
The role of museums is not limited to the management of knowledge and collections. The key to a museum’s authority lies not only in institutional expertise, but in a thoughtfully implemented strategy to create an open environment for democratic participation, cooperation, and co-creation, emphasizing the phenomenon of connected professionality (Leontine Meijer-van Mensch, connective professionality).
Focusing on the role of the museum in current and future society, we will continue the discussion initiated at the previous conference on how museum professionalism is changing in a world increasingly dominated by digital tools, information overload, growing societal polarization, and fragile trust. Therefore, at the conference we will consider the museum in the context of the formation of civic, technological, and professional relationships, where we can reassess established assumptions, jointly reflect on responsibility towards heritage, and explore how museums can remain relevant in a society where both information use and participation habits are changing.
Main panels of the conference:
The museum as a collaborative professional environment, where collections, research, and interpretation are shaped through dialogue with communities and individuals whose experience, knowledge, and relationships with tangible heritage determine the creation of museum content. Museum collection and its interpretation as the result of intentionally cultivated relationships.
This panel focuses on participation, shared responsibility, professional decisionmaking, and ethics in collections work, and on how these factors influence the museum’s perception in society. We invite paper proposals that reflect on participatory heritagemaking, collaboration with heritage communities and object donors, and community involvement in research, documentation, interpretation, and communication. Especially welcome are reflections on longterm partnerships, professional and ethical dilemmas, and the rethinking of historically established collectionbuilding practices in participatory contexts.
The digital environment is a space where museum collections, knowledge, and interpretations become accessible, usable, and cocreated in collaboration with society. It functions not only as a technological tool, but as an extension of museums’ professional practice, communication, and cooperation, shaping new relationships between museums, communities, and individual users.
This section addresses digital platforms as environments for participation and cocreation, questions of access and sustainable collaboration, and the relationship between digital and physical experiences. How do digital resources complement and expand the museum experience? How can highquality, sustainable, and ethical access to digital heritage content be ensured?
We invite museologists and researchers to analyse the role of the digital environment in museum practice and society, and practitioners to share their experience with digital collectionbuilding, participatory projects, user engagement, and collaborative formats. Especially welcome are examples highlighting innovative approaches as well as professional and ethical challenges related to the accessibility, interpretation, and sustainability of digital content.
Heritage as a resource for museum collections, narratives, and interpretation in shaping collective memory and identity. This panel will explore how heritage helps to create and understand identity at the individual, community, and societal levels. How do literature, music, and other creative practices sustain cultural memory and contribute to the formation of national, community, and individual identities, and how can heritage based individual or community experience enable collaboration in broader, intercultural contexts?
How does museum work with literary, musical, and biographical heritage materials foster a sense of belonging? How can museums create multi vocal narratives about the past? How do family archives and the voice of heritage holders enter museums alongside institutional interpretations? We invite museologists and researchers to analyse the formation of identity and shared memory in museum practice and society, and practitioners to share experience of working with literary, musical, biographical, and community collections, interpretive practices, dialogue building, and the approaches and challenges of interpreting identity and memory in museums.
Museum professionalism within today’s cultural ecosystem, where professional ethics, responsibility, and decisionmaking are closely connected to collaboration with other institutions, communities, and creative sectors. Professionalism in collaborative relationships is understood as responsible action, thoughtful decisionmaking, and the ability to build sustainable connections.
This panel addresses professional responsibility in partnerships, the building of trust between museums and cocreators, roles and shared responsibility in joint projects, and heritage interpretation as dialogue rather than a onedirectional or authoritative practice. How do museums realise their mission and professional ethics in cooperation with diverse partners? How are resilient and sustainable partnerships formed?
We invite museologists and researchers to analyse questions of professionalism and responsibility in museum work, and practitioners – museum directors, curators, collections managers, conservators, and project managers – to share experiences of collaborative projects, partnership building, and interpretive practices. Especially welcome are examples highlighting professional challenges, interinstitutional collaboration, and the development of sustainable partnerships.
Poster Presentation:
It is possible to submit a poster corresponding to one of the conference themes.
The poster may include visual examples, key narratives, and creative approaches. The poster should be A2 in format, speakers should aim for a 5-minute presentation.
Conference organizers may assign a submitted paper to the poster session.
Registration and Practical Information
The conference will take place on 26–27 November 2026 in person in Riga. The conference programme will be published after the approval of papers.
Languages of the presentations: Latvian and English (simultaneous interpretation will be provided).
Full conference participation fee: 70.00 EUR.
The participation fee ensures the full conference programme, coffee breaks, lunch, a visit to the exhibition “SongSpace,” and publication of the paper in the Proceedings.
Notifications regarding the inclusion of the presentation in the conference programme will be sent by 21 September 2026.
