Born to be OPTI: A new model for participatory museum management

Abstract

Society in the Museum (SoMus) is a research project in the feld of sociomuseology where culture is viewed as an essential axis of developmental processes and museums as key tools for the exercise of cultural citizenship. The project intends to identify, analyse, systematize and disclose some of the most interesting emerging models of participatory management underway in four European museums. In this article we present the anatomy, the strategy and the challenges of one of the Nordic partners, the Finnish Labour Museum, and its current management tool, the OPTI Participatory Management Model. The model has been adapted from the business world to serve as a critical museological tool and to enhance participation in cultural institutions. It is a response to the paradigmatic transition that museums face when actively engaging in a participative culture.