Glasgow Museums Advisory Panels January 2008

Access Panel y Community Panel y Education Panel y Frequent Visitors y Youth Panel

The Glasgow Museums Advisory Panels will work to ensure that the widest range of people will enjoy, earn and be inspired by their visit to Glasgow Museums.

Guiding Principle of the Panels The Glasgow Museums Advisory Panels will work to ensure that the widest range of people will enjoy, learn and be inspired by their visit to visit Glasgow Museums. The Advisory Panels’ aims are to maintain and improve the provision of services for existing audiences and develop methods of attracting new audiences. Over the next four years, the Panels will work with particular emphasis on the major projects being undertaken by Glasgow Museums, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre 2, Kelvingrove and the Riverside Museum.

Roles of the Advisory Panels The members of all Glasgow Museums Advisory Panels will be encouraged to: 1. Advise Glasgow Museums on specific aspects of service delivery including, but not limited to, improving access, developing lifelong learning opportunities and enabling wider community participation 2. Provide specific input into the key decision making stages of the current major projects being undertaken by Glasgow Museums 3. Act as advocates for both Glasgow Museums, and more specifically the current major projects, to their representative communities 4. Provide an effective link between Glasgow Museums and the wider community representatives (encouraging joint working and assisting the museums service in consulting the most relevant groups on key developments) In addition, there will be a small number of advisory panels selected to advise specifically on the Riverside Museum Project. These panels have a specific interest in the development of the Riverside Museum and as a result their input is targeted, e.g. frequent visitors to the existing Museum of Transport, or representatives of transport enthusiast groups. The roles of the Riverside Museum Advisory Panels are: 1. To provide specific input into the key decision making stages of the Riverside Museum Project 2. To act as advocates for the Riverside Museum Project to the communities that members represent 3. To provide an effective link between the Riverside Museum Project and the wider community representatives where appropriate

The Panels Community Panel Statement of Purpose The purpose of the Community Panel is to enable greater community involvement in Glasgow Museums’ current activities and development. The Community Panel is a touchstone between Glasgow Museums and the communities that make up the city. Key aims and objectivities of Access Panel: •

To discuss, suggest and advise on new buildings projects, exhibitions, facilities and other related museum programming in order to have greater involvement in the development of Glasgow Museums.

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To provide information and advice based on the knowledge and experience of its members to inform the activities and development of Glasgow Museums – especially on the Riverside Museum Project (including Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, GMRC) and Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery.

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To help to reduce real and perceived barriers between the public and museums in general and help to establish links and partnerships with community based organisations operating within the city.

Who is Involved? Glasgow Museums’ Community Advisory Panel is to be ‘…representative of the cultural and social diversity of the city…’. The members of Glasgow Museums’ Community Panel live and/or work within the city boundaries – they are a ‘geographical community’. Obviously it will be impossible to directly represent every single community in Glasgow through the community panel. To do so would result in a panel of dozens and dozens of people that would be difficult to operate at a practical level. The membership includes representatives from local organisations e.g. Partick and Govan Community Council, the NHS and Glasgow University Student Union, as well as local individuals who are frequent visitors to the Museum of Transport.

Access Panel Statement of Purpose •

To help ensure that Glasgow Museums addresses the barriers which prevent people attending museums. The barriers may be physical, sensory, attitudinal, cultural, social or financial.

Key aims and objectivities of Access Panel: • • • •

An accessible and inclusive museum service To promote ownership and usage of the museum and its facilities The successful and effective completion of the major projects To have an ongoing influence on Glasgow Museums service provision

Who is involved? The Access Panel is made up of people that can speak about the range of barriers faced in attending museums. The membership is drawn from Glasgow-based groups and organisations and is people who experience barriers themselves either in their daily lives or have knowledge of these barriers in their roles as support workers. Membership includes: • Deaf Connections • Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living • Visibility • Black and Ethnic Network • National Children’s Deaf Society • Autism Resource Centre • Fair Deal • Dyslexia Scotland • Different Strokes

Youth Panels Statement of Purpose The panels will work to ensure that the widest range of young people will be able to enjoy and learn from the new museum. Key Aims and Objectives of the Riverside Museum Youth Panels

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Aims To ensure that the widest range of young people will be able to enjoy and learn from the new museum To reduce real and perceived barriers between young people and museums in general To ensure that design elements and content of the museum are effective in meeting target audience requirements, in particular those of family (Junior Panel) and teen audiences (Teen Panel)

Objectives • To closely involve a group of young people, one at primary and one at secondary school age with the development of the new museum • To enable the views of young people to be represented at management level • To develop advocate groups for the Riverside Project within selected schools and their respective communities • To provide young people outside these groups with representatives through which to air their views • To foster close working relationships with local schools within target communities • To empower groups of young people to develop their awareness of museums and the Project, while developing confidence and skills • To provide opportunities for visits, tasks and projects which will inform the work of the panel

Who is involved? The selection and replacement process for these panels will be organised by each school though it will be made clear that pupils should be chosen who can benefit from such an opportunity, not just those who are most able in class or who have visited museums before. Meetings take place within school hours and are planned with the teacher. Teen Panel Twelve pupils from the local high school, Hillhead High, are members. They are selected for membership in consultation with their pastoral care teacher. Due to exams, most members are between S1 and S4 only. Junior Panel The Junior Panel is made up of pupils from two primary school, on either side of the River Clyde – one is non-denominational, Hyndland, and one Catholic, St. Constantine’s. As well as representing two key target communities, it is hoped that this will enable children from a wide range of backgrounds to be involved. Eight children from each school (16 total) will act as representatives for their respective classmates. The panel will be based with these schools for the

remainder of the project, with younger children replacing older children as they leave. Skills Development Participants may require support to develop background knowledge and skills to empower them to contribute effectively and this will be provided as appropriate. Maintaining Interest It is key that we ensure young people are both genuinely engaged with the work they are doing and are able to witness directly the importance and value to others of the contribution they are making. Many of the young people involved in the panels will not see the project through to completion and even for those that do, three years will seem a long time. To maintain interest and enthusiasm they will given shorter-term projects with clear outcomes and incentives. Activities and meetings will be structured to ensure that this is the case. Where appropriate young people will also be given a say in how the panels are run.

Education Advisory Panel

Statement of Purpose •

To ensure that Glasgow Museums provide a unique resource for education and lifelong learning

Key aims and objectivities of Education Advisory Panel: The input of the Education Advisory Panel will assist Glasgow Museums in achieving: • Enhanced lifelong learning opportunities across Glasgow Museums venues • Inspirational experiences which motivate learning in all visitors • Stimulating informal learning environments for family and adult learners • The provision of educational resources which are relevant to all educational stages • The successful and effective completion of the major projects Who is involved? The Education Advisory Panel consists of key education practitioners representing the formal education sector and community learning. A range of levels from under 5’s practitioners to tertiary educators and a range of curricular and subject areas are represented within the panel. Examples of members are Creative Links Officers, Educational development staff, teachers, and Further Education lecturers.