the local community that has identified this
boat as its symbol.
If museums are going
to play a major role in conserving places, in protecting the
natural and cultural environment, then a new kind of museum is
required with two important attributes. The first of these, the
realization that the museum extends beyond the physical barrier of
its walls to play a cultural role in society. The second attribute,
community empowerment, while now largely recognized in the
developed world through outreach and consultation efforts, is still
to be put into practice in any meaningful way. Empowerment and
responsibility go hand in hand if communities are to shape and
define the significance of their heritage, their local environment,
their place. In effect a new philosophy and inclusive processes are
needed to empower local communities.
An ecomuseum is
defined by its socially relevant objectives and basic principles.
Its work as an educational institution is directed toward making a
local population aware of its identity, strengthening that
identity, and instilling confidence in a population's potential for
development. In this regard: An eco museum is a means, a tool
available to a society to find, give form to, mark, demarcate its
identity, i.e. its territory and its frontiers in time and space,
with respect to other societies and other social and cultural
groups. The tools of the ecomuseum ideal can provide them not
only with a mechanism for rescuing an artefact, a habitat or a way
of life from loss or destruction, but also a means of expressing a
deep conviction to preserve and deepen a sense of place by creating
stories about the people who valued the culture.
Typical aims of an
ecomuseum are to:
-
facilitate and promote
community-building activities;
-
help develop and realize a strategy
for sustainable economic development of the region;
-
preserve the material and living
cultural heritage of the region;
-
preserve the natural heritage and
environment of the region;
-
facilitate re-qualification training
and other forms of Adult Education, to help fight unemployment and
enable people to use alternative economic opportunities;
and
-
educate visitors and local people, and
in particular children, about the life of ordinary people from this
region in the 19th century, complementing the picture of daily life
in previous centuries.
These aims can be
met by learning from objects and an ecomuseum helps learners access
their imaginations to engage with a set of concepts, the history of
a people who came before them; the history of an aesthetic
movement, or the cultural norms of a society.
