WORKSHOPS/CONFERENCES

WORKSHOP

Place: National Museum of Roman Art, Mérida, Spain

Date: December, 17, 2018

 

2^nd Edition of the Workshop dedicated to the Training Programs for Cultural Volunteering in Museums, in collaboration with the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

During the sessions, topics related to oral communication and formative evaluation were discussed.

These conferences were open to all the Cultural Volunteers of Extremadura.

The Erasmus + Project was presented as part of the workshop program.

CONFERENCE

“Community Involvement in Museums”

Luís Raposo, President of ICOM-Europe

Place: National Museum of Archeology, Lisbon, Portugal

Date: April, 1, 2019

 

The President of ICOM-Europe was invited to present the European context of the cultural volunteers of Museums and the ICOM policy on the subject.

 

In this regard, he pointed out the existence of documents of interest such as the “Code of Ethics for Friends and Volunteers of Museums” of World Federation of Friends of Museums. This is an essential framework document to take into account. He also stressed “A guide to student volunteering in museums” from the University of Reading (March, 2011).

 

Dr. Luis Raposo also exposed some specific cases in Museums of East Europe, where the activity of the Volunteers is in some cases not well determined. He therefore insisted on the need to define the functions of Volunteering and the interest of the project to help reflect on these issues.

CONFERENCE

Dr. Ivone Tavares, National Coordinator of General Director of Cultural Heritage Volunteer Program and with the Volunteer Program Managers in each of the Museums, Palaces and National Monuments.

Place: National Museum of Archeology, Lisbon, Portugal

Date: April, 1-2, 2019

 

Dr. Ivone Tavares, presented a general framework on this Volunteer program, hosted by the General Director of Cultural Heritage of the Government of Portugal. It works since 2011 and applies to all 23 sites. All of them have volunteers, although in an unequal situation, from those museums with 3 volunteers to those with 15. All Volunteers sign an agreement with the General Directorate and are insured by it. They have a cap of 300 volunteers who can admit. The request must be made from the website of the General Directorate and this request is first studied by the coordinator, who forwards it, if possible, to the requested Museum.

 

The profile of the applicant is very varied, although it is worth mentioning the greater participation of women (73%) most are also licensed. The motivations are very broad (attention to the public, research, conservation / restoration, equipment and communication). The vast majority is Portuguese, but there is also international volunteering (English, French and Brazilian).

 

Weak points of the system of access and development of volunteers are found in the poor availability of technical personnel and equipment that museums can make available. The general management also provides the program with a small budget for maintenance and transportation assistance when necessary.

 

Dr. Ivonne Tavares also provided documentation on the legislative framework of Portugal. In particular, I attach the Law 71/98 “Bases of the legal framework of volunteering” (published in nº 254 of the Diario de la República on 11/3/1998) and Decree Law No. 389/1999 on the Exercise of Volunteering (published in the Diario de la República nº 229 of 09/30/1999).

CONFERENCE

 

Presentation of the Project Evaluation Program

 

Prof. Doctor Mikel Asensio, Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

 

Place: National Museum of Archeology, Lisbon, Portugal

Date: April, 1, 2019

 

 

The professor was invited to present the evaluation methodology that we would follow in the project, with the classic phases of development:

 

• Initial, where it will be important to understand the work context of museum volunteers, a quantitative evaluation.
• Formative, to measure motivations and expectations. In this sense it is a qualitative measurement.
• Summative, which will measure the impact.

 

The professor also explained the need to approve in the next meeting a detailed chronogram of each institution to implement the evaluation system.