The Value of Museums Enhancing Societal Well-Being: An Interview with John Falk

Among many lessons learned from previous webinars is the need to reconsider the connection with the community. Through the pandemic we have seen museums contributing directly to the well-being of their communities by offering food services, places for kids to connect to wi-fi for online school programs, become vaccination sites, and just recently many museums in the US participate in a nationwide effort called “Communities for Immunity” to boost vaccine confidence in their communities. Does that mean that the value of museums in society has changed? 

MuseumExpert.org will present a conversation on this matter at the occasion of the publication of “The Value of Museums. Enhancing Societal Well-Being” by John Falk. The author will be interviewed by Mikko Myllikosky, the CEO of the Heureka science center in Vantaa, Finland.  

They will address questions about the value of museums and the definition of ‘well-being’ as described by Falk based on the theory of evolution. They will debate the possibility of measuring well-being created by museums and explore if museums need to adapt their practices to respond to that need.