Birmingham citizens shape future of museums
At the beginning of August 2024, thousands of residents of the English city of Birmingham received an invitation from the Birmingham Museums Trust to attend the first Citizens' Jury in a British museum. The aim of the mini-public is to reshape the future of museums in Birmingham.
The Citizens' Jury will address the question: ’What does Birmingham need and want from its museums, now and in the future; and what should Birmingham Museums Trust do to make these things happen?'
Reflecting the needs and wishes of citizens
Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah, co-directors of Birmingham Museums Trust, said: 'We're excited to pioneer this innovative approach in the UK museum sector. By inviting citizens to shape the future of their museums, we're ensuring that our transformation truly reflects the needs and aspirations of our citizens, communities and the city.
We believe that Birmingham should have world class museums that we can all be proud of - the museums and the collections belong to the people of Birmingham and we trust our citizens to make decisions about the future. The recommendations made by this Jury will have a direct impact on what we do in the future.'
30 Jury participants
30 participants from across the city will be selected through a two-stage sortition process to create a representative cross-section of Birmingham's population. The Citizens' Jury will meet in six sessions in October and November 2024, combining online and face-to-face meetings. Participants will receive £360 worth of vouchers as an allowance.
The Citizens‘ Jury recommendations will be presented to the Museum’s Directors and Board of Trustees, who will be accountable for responding to and delivering them.
The Birmingham Museums Trust chose the Citizens' Jury format because 'the legitimacy of Citizens Assemblies and Juries comes from both their randomised participation and from their ability to produce well considered, informed recommendations. This means that they are different from most other forms of public consultation, which generally ask self-selecting members of the public to respond to pre-determined policy options based on little information.'
Reinventing museums
Social enterprise Shared Future has been commissioned to run the process drawing on their wealth of experience in this field, alongside DemocracyNext, 'who is supporting as an advisor and critical friend to the process'. The Jury will be supported by an Oversight Panel, who ensures the process is in line with best practice principles.
This initiative is part of Birmingham Museum Trust's broader transformation strategy, aiming to reinvent the city's museums as genuinely democratic and inclusive spaces for the 21st century.
Precursor in Germany
The Birmingham Museums Citizens' Jury has been funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of Birmingham Museums Trust's Laying the Foundations programme.
The Birmingham Museums Citizens' Jury has predecessors in Germany. In 2023, the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD) organised two Society Forums. Their aim was to reassess the importance of cultural institutions in terms of their role in society.
Mini-publics on culture in Coventry and Nottingham
In Coventry, England, randomly selected residents took part in a Citizens' Assembly in October and November 2021 to discuss how art, culture and creativity can contribute to a better future for the UK's Capital of Culture 2021. In Nottingham, England, the world's first permanent Citizens' Assembly on art and culture is intended to make art and culture a matter for all residents.