Bridging Past and Future: St Andrews Leads Kuala Lumpur Youth Workshop on Museums and the SDGs

Jamie Allan Brown, Research Fellow at the School of Art History, and Professor Karen Brown co-facilitated the second youth workshop in a series of global workshops entitled 'Young People Shaping the Future of Museology through the Lens of the SDGs.' This collaboration with the International Council of Museums (ICOM)'s international committee on museology – ICOFOM aims to respond to the call to action by global youth climate activists. It advocates for greater involvement of young people as agents of change in contemporary museology and wider society. The workshops seek to understand the role that museums can play in addressing climate change and the UN's Agenda 2030, particularly in underrepresented countries and communities. They also embody the general call for increased youth participation in museums and ICOM.

The second workshop took place as part of the ICOFOM-ASPAC [subcommittee for Asia Pacific] International Symposium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 16-18 November 2023. It attracted over 60 participants, ranging from young individuals to museum and arts professionals, including ICOM Executive Board Vice-Chair, Inkyung Chang, from the Republic of Korea. Jamie and Karen were also joined by Janice Yap, a Museums and Heritage Studies postgraduate student who is set to graduate in November 2023.

These workshops will contribute to research outputs, including the School of Art History-led European Research Council (ERC) selected, and UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) funded Shared Island Stories research project coordinated by Professor Karen Brown.

For more information about the global workshop series, visit https://icofom.mini.icom.museum/special-projects/#.