ICOM is glad to announce the renewal of its fruitful collaboration with ICOM China and the Palace Museum in Beijing for the ICOM International Training Centre for Museum Studies (ICOM-ITC).
Originally founded in 2013, ICOM-ITC is a project that offers to museums professionals courses related to contemporary needs such as community engagement, social role of museums, developing partnerships, museum ethics, etc. These courses are developed twice a year, in English, and the Centre regularly offers full and partial grants to ensure the participation of the selected participants.
Between 2013 and 2019, ICOM-ITC has developed thirteen workshops in China and one special workshop in Tanzania. The importance of research and exchange among museums at international level lead ICOM and its partners to renew their cooperation to keep the ICOM-ITC alive in order to always offer museums professionals from all over the world the chance to meet and develop their expertise together.
In the last eight years the ICOM-ITC has been a great success, as proved by a survey that was developed at the end of last year, asking all participants how the training workshops have had an effect in their daily work and in strengthening their professional network. 55% of all ITC participants contacted responded to the survey.
When asked to rate the impact of the workshop on their daily work and career from 1 to 5 (5 being the best score), the average answer was 4.
The following graph shows that most of the participants greatly valued the interaction with other museum professionals. Many also recognized the positive impact the ICOM-ITC training workshop had on their access to professional networks and that they had acquired specific skills/tools for daily activities.
80 % of all participants stated that they put into practice the knowledge and tools learned during the workshop to develop new projects or transform existing ones.
In particular, the ICOM-ITC workshop helped participants improve their capacities in management, in the creation of meaningful experiences and new educational programmes, in restauration and conservation of collections, in reaching the public online, particularly in the context of the current pandemic. Some started using the Object ID in their museums, and many shared what they learnt at the ICOM-ITC Training Workshop with their colleagues.
80% of the participants answering the survey stated that the workshop had a positive impact on his/her relationship and involvement with ICOM and its activities.
The vast majority kept in touch with other participants met during the ICOM-ITC training for different reasons:
