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Carbon Literacy for Museums – upcoming courses

Three more rounds of Carbon Literacy training for 2022/23 are now open for bookings from museums across the Midlands.

West Midlands Museum Development (WMMD) and Museum Development East Midlands (MDEM) are partnering to deliver several rounds of training, using the Carbon Literacy for Museums Toolkit developed by Museum Development and the Carbon Literacy Trust as part of the national Roots and Branches project.

What is a Carbon Literacy course? The Carbon Literacy course will give you an understanding of what climate change is, the scale of its effects, and how museums fit into the global, national and local picture to address climate change. You become Carbon Literate by making an individual pledge, and an organisational pledge to take back to your museum, of what you can do, and is in your power to achieve, to make a significant difference to your carbon impact.

Who can attend? Anyone – we welcome all trustees, managers, volunteers and paid staff who want to understand the part they can play in tackling the climate emergency.

What’s involved? The course is made up of four modules – the first module is pre-recorded and there are three Zoom sessions:

It’s important you are able to attend all three of the Zoom modules

Each course is the same and you only need to take part in one cohort.

The dates:

Attendees will be certified as Carbon Literate once they’ve successfully completed the course. Therefore, it is essential you are able to attend all three Zoom sessions.

Maximum two attendees per organisation. Priority will be given to delegates from non-NPO and non-National museums in the East Midlands and West Midlands which are Accredited or officially Working Towards Accreditation.

Accessibility
This event will be auto captioned through Zoom. If you would benefit from other forms of access support, including live captioning, please answer ‘yes’ to the access requirements question on the booking form and email the WMMD team as early as possible stating the support you require. 

All participants will receive an email containing a Zoom link to the training prior to the event. The email will be sent to the email address used for booking. If you have not received an email the day before the event please contact us.

If the booking page doesn’t appear for your chosen cohort it means that it is fully booked. Please email wmmd@ironbridge.org.uk to join the waiting list stating the cohort you would prefer to join.

Carbon Literacy training March 2023

Our final round of Carbon Literacy training for 2022/23 is now open for bookings from museums across the Midlands.

West Midlands Museum Development (WMMD) and Museum Development East Midlands (MDEM) are partnering to deliver several rounds of training, using the Carbon Literacy for Museums Toolkit developed by Museum Development and the Carbon Literacy Trust as part of the national Roots and Branches project.

What is a Carbon Literacy course? The Carbon Literacy course will give you an understanding of what climate change is, the scale of its effects, and how museums fit into the global, national and local picture to address climate change. You become Carbon Literate by making an individual pledge, and an organisational pledge to take back to your museum, of what you can do, and is in your power to achieve, to make a significant difference to your carbon impact.

Who can attend? Anyone – we welcome all trustees, managers, volunteers and paid staff who want to understand the part they can play in tackling the climate emergency.

What’s involved? The course is made up of four modules – the first module is pre-recorded and there are three Zoom sessions:

Attendees will be certified as Carbon Literate once they’ve successfully completed the course. Therefore, it is essential you are able to attend all three Zoom sessions.

Maximum two attendees per organisation. Priority will be given to delegates from non-NPO and non-National museums in the East Midlands and West Midlands which are Accredited or officially Working Towards Accreditation.

Accessibility
This event will be auto captioned through Zoom. If you would benefit from other forms of access support, including live captioning, please answer ‘yes’ to the access requirements question on the booking form and email the WMMD team as early as possible stating the support you require. 

All participants will receive an email containing a Zoom link to the training prior to the event. The email will be sent to the email address used for booking. If you have not received an email the day before the event please contact us.

If the booking isn’t visible these training sessions are fully booked. Please email wmmd@ironbridge.org.uk to join the waiting list.

Pitch Perfect – Do you have an idea for TV or radio?

Cultural organisations, artists, creatives and theatre-makers based in the West Midlands are invited to submit an idea for a TV or radio project and join ‘Pitch Perfect’ training and development scheme. The scheme offers access to:

• Industry insiders from The Space who will champion your idea to TV and radio channels
• Training sessions with TV and radio leaders
• One-to-one sessions with producers, script editors and local independent production companies that can help make your idea broadcast-ready
• Access to written resources to help you hone your pitch
• Contributions to funding if your idea is picked up by a broadcaster during the scheme

Find out more and apply

Submit an idea for a TV or a radio project until 5pm, Thursday 15 September

Steps to Sustainability – round 3 applications open

AIM is pleased to be working with Social Enterprise Academy on the third round of Steps to Sustainability. Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, the programme will help your organisation to be ambitious, forward-thinking and deliver exciting new projects.

The programme is open to small to medium heritage organisations in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have an income-generating idea that is not yet fully formed and need the resources and support the Steps to Sustainability programme offers to pursue this idea.

On this 14 month journey, you will learn to look outwards, build stronger partnerships and become more comfortable with the commercial aspects of running a heritage organisation. Learning with a network of peers and sector experts from across the UK, you will turn a new business idea into reality.

Find out more and apply.

Application deadline: Sunday 11 September

Rural Museums Network autumn seminar series

The Rural Museums Network is pleased to launch its 2022 Autumn Seminar Series. Join us for these monthly seminars to hear expert speakers and museum professionals share how rural collections and rural sites can better include a wider range of voices in the stories they tell.

These sessions are on the Zoom platform and are free for members (institutional and individual) and £5 for non-members.

Friday 9 September at 3pm

Join the Rural Museums Network and George Monger ACR to discuss conservation problems facing rural museums across the UK, posed by the audience. If you have a question or topic of interest you would like George to explore, please note this when making your booking on Eventbrite, or email them to rmnvoice@gmail.com. Tickets here.

Friday 7 October at 3pm

Niall Logan, chairman of the Scottish Vernacular Buildings Working Group, will trace the history of the longhouse in Scotland from the earliest examples through to survivors today; how they were built, how they functioned, and why there are so few surviving. Tickets here.

Friday 4 November at 3pm

Henry McGhie of Curating Tomorrow will be talking about sustainable development ideas and how rural museums can contribute towards sustainable communities. Tickets here.

Developing Volunteering Practice

West Midlands Museum Development (WMMD) and Museum Development UK (MDUK) are pleased to announce a series of three Volunteer Management Development training events.

This national online Museum Development series of webinars will help to develop knowledge and skills in volunteering practice, volunteer recruitment and volunteer strategy development.

The sessions are most suited to groups and organisations that are:

All training will be delivered using a webinar format via Zoom.

Bookings close five days before each session date. Participants may book onto one, two, or all three training events.

Webinar 1: Volunteer Management
Thursday 8 September, 9.30am-1pm

As a result of attending this webinar, participants will become equipped or underpin skills and knowledge, including and not limited to:

Webinar 2: Volunteer Recruitment – focusing on inclusive recruitment
Thursday 20 October, 9.30am-1pm

As a result of attending this webinar, participants will become equipped or underpin skills and knowledge, including and not limited to:

Webinar 3: Developing a Volunteering Strategy
Thursday 17 November 9.30am-1pm

As a result of attending this webinar, participants will become equipped or underpin skills and knowledge, including and not limited to:

Bookings are being taken by SHARE, which is the Museum Development provider for the East of England. They will share your booking data with WMMD.

Priority will be given to non-NPO and non-National museums which are Accredited or officially Working Towards Accreditation.

Session leaders:
This webinar series is being hosted by volunteering consultants and specialists Laura Hamilton and Carol Carbine, who both bring more than 40 years of volunteer management experience in the VCSE sector.

Laura has a strong understanding of volunteer management within small and medium-sized organisations and of working with staff to build volunteer management confidence and capacity. Laura runs a successful consultancy (Laura Hamilton Consulting), with a specialist focus on volunteer engagement and management, and training and mentoring for volunteer managers.

Carol specialises in training/ facilitation and problem-solving/ conflict resolution, working within the overseas aid, animal welfare, disability and heritage sectors. Carol is a qualified NLP Practitioner and offers bespoke training and facilitation through her own consultancy (Carol Carbine Consulting).

Restitution Guidelines

Arts Council England (ACE) has published new restitution and repatriation guidelines for museums.

The long-awaited guidance is intended to clarify the process around the return of cultural material to its original owner or place of origin. It replaces previous guidance produced by the now-defunct Museums and Galleries Commission in 2000.

The guidance is underpinned by existing policy and legislative framework and supports museums in making decisions and managing cases in a legally appropriate and ethically responsible manner. It does not change any policy or legislation.

View or download Restitution and Repatriation: A practical guide for museums in England

Share your Opinions on the Future of UK Heritage

The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) is developing an ambitious, long-term vision for heritage and what its funding can achieve. It really values your insight, so please take five minutes to complete a survey that will contribute to NLHF’s long-term vision.

You can choose to take a longer or shorter survey and this will be open until midday, Monday 5 September.

Inform the Future of Museum Development

Don’t miss this opportunity to contribute and inform future support.

Arts Council England has commissioned an Evaluation of Museum Development across England to understand the impact of Arts Council’s investment in the Museum Development Programme.

As part of the final phase of the evaluation, a survey of museums is taking place, and we would be delighted if you could find the time to respond. This is your opportunity to influence and inform the next Museum Development Programme from 2024 onwards.

The survey asks about your museum’s engagement with Museum Development, the impact of Museum Development support, and provides you with an opportunity to provide feedback, identify areas for improvement, and outline priorities for future support.

The survey is available via: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MDevaluation2022

It should only take around 10 minutes to complete and the deadline is Friday 9 September.

Heritage Advice Sessions for Walsall

The Heritage Fund and One Walsall are running free 1:1 sessions for groups based in or working in Walsall on Tuesday 6 September. The Heritage Fund describes heritage as “anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations”. Walsall has a rich heritage and the Heritage Fund is currently prioritising applications from the area. Grants of between £3,000 and £5million are available as part of the National Lottery Grants for Heritage programme.

The meetings provide a chance for a friendly discussion about your project ideas and if heritage funding is a suitable option. There’s no pressure to apply and The Heritage Fund and One Walsall may be able to direct you to other funders if heritage funding isn’t suitable.

Book your free 50 minute session by emailing juliet@onewalsall.org, the sessions can be done online or in person.