ITP Futures 2022 report
Written by Anna Cottle, ITP Coordinator
We are pleased to share the final ITP Futures 2022 report, following the onsite project’s delivery in June this year. ITP Futures is a co-design project which aims to capture the creativity of the programme’s 9 ITP Senior Fellows. The Futures team worked on ideas throughout 2021 online with the aim of shaping the future of the ITP through a series of online discussions and networking events.
June 2022 saw five of the International Training Programme Senior Fellows welcomed back to the British Museum to attend the legacy project, ITP Futures 2022, marking the Museum’s recent commitment to the programme until at least 2025.
The ITP looked ahead to the future, beginning with this five-day discussion, collaboration and networking event, developing the best ways in which ITP’s Senior Fellows can help shape the future of both the Annual Programme and legacy projects. During the project, departmental colleagues and programme partners from around the British Museum and the UK joined us for a wider discussion enabling our network to help decide the future of the ITP and think about how it sits within the global heritage and cultural sector.
Walking through these matters with Fellows from diverse backgrounds but similar interests brought home to me the relevance and impact the ITP has on my life, and how unique this chance of making an impact in the museum sector is. The ITP is my go-to for trends, information and inspiration. I resolved to always dedicate time for the programme in my weekly timetable.
Eileen Musundi (Kenya, ITP 2008, Senior Fellow 2013)
Participants for ITP Futures onsite project:
- Eileen Musundi, Kenya, ITP 2008, Senior Fellow 2013, Head of Exhibitions, National Museums of Kenya.
- Rebecca Njeri Gachihi, Kenya, ITP 2010, Senior Fellow 2016, Research Scientist, National Museums of Kenya.
- Hayk Mkrtchyan, Armenia, ITP 2014, Senior Fellow 2017, Chair, ICOM Armenia.
- Mohamed Mokhtar, Egypt, ITP 2015, Senior Fellow 2019, Curator, Abdeen Palace Museums.
- Bilwa Kulkarni (India, ITP 2015, Senior Fellow, e-Learning, ITP 2021) Head – Programming, Museum of Solutions.
Objectives
- To provide an opportunity for fellows to raise questions and input into plans for the future of the ITP.
- To share plans for the future of the British Museum.
- Sessions and workshops focusing on Leadership and Strategic Planning.
- Network and reconnect with UK partners and British Museum colleagues.
- To support fellows to think about the future of the global museum sector and their role in it.
- To think about the challenges museum and galleries will face in an uncertain future.
- For the fellows to feedback on the Museum’s plans from differing perspectives.
ITP Futures emphasised one of the important aims of the ITP which is to keep connections within the global network, and create new opportunities for collaboration and seek increased and new forms of engagement.
Mohamed Mokhtar (Egypt, ITP 2015, Senior Fellow 2019)
So what’s next for ITP Futures? Since the onsite programme, we welcomed Roshan Mishra, Director, Taragaon Museum, (Nepal, ITP Fellow 2018, Senior Fellow 2022) to the Senior Fellow group and the next stage of the ITP Futures venture is an ITP Advisory Group – watch this space for more news on this!