About

Museum Development UK (MDUK) is a network of national Museum Development providers and practitioners in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Museum Development UK’s goal is to collaborate to enable equitable, and innovative museums that welcome people from all backgrounds. Together we create a thriving museum sector by raising standards, driving excellence and training people working in museums.

Our mission is simple:

• Working in partnerships with each other, stakeholders and partners to add value to MDUK programmes and investment.
• Delivering programmes, training and grants to increase the capacity and resilience of museums, their and communities and collections.
• Sharing good practice and embedding data-drive evidence to inform advocacy, programmes and investment.

Our aims are inclusive and ambitious:

1. Everyone can experience and be inspired by museums. From the teacher planning a class visit, the student seeking work experience, families visiting during holidays, community groups using galleries for creative activity, to the volunteers who help keep the museum running: MDUK promotes museums as safe, inclusive and accessible spaces for all to enjoy.
2. Excellence is at the heart of the museum sector. That means supporting museums to deliver quality exhibitions, events, activities and services and to maintain sector-recognised professional standards and legal requirements.
3. People working in museums are skilled professionals. MDUK is the number one provider of training and professional development opportunities for the museum workforce. We are committed to working with appropriate partners to deliver specialist training to build staff confidence, and delivering training on equality, diversity, and inclusion.
4. Museums deliver quality services for communities. In order to thrive, museums need to be relevant to their communities. MDUK supports governance work on Equality and Diversity planning so that organisations represent the communities they serve. We also help museums understand their visitor market to develop programmes to grow and diversify their audiences.
5. Museums manage their collections ethically and creatively. Holding art and museum collections in trust for future generations is a central activity for museums. MDUK promotes best practice for managing cultural assets and help museums communicate the stories that connect their collections to visitors and the community.
6. Museum have access to grant programmes. In addition to providing advice, guidance and training, MDUK supports all of the above through small grants programmes.

Contact

To contact one of the Museum Development teams or collaborate with Museum Development UK please contact our Coordinator on:

[email protected]

MDUK has an internal monthly newsletter which is distributed to Museum Development practitioners across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you are a Sector Support Organisations (SSO) with a news update that would benefit the museum sector, please contact the Coordinator (above). Please note we do not circulate job adverts or communications from the commercial sector.