The resilience of societies and institutions in the Baltic Sea Region was significantly tested during the COVID pandemic and will face even a greater challenge at the time and after the war in Ukraine. During the last years it became apparent that in every country the museums, memory and cultural institutions have a much bigger role to play in ensuring resilience in the society during the crises than initially expected. The thirst for culture and entertainment (edutainment) was great: the number of e-exhibitions in galleries and museums increased, artists organised pop-up concerts from their home studios, online nonformal training courses fostered.

What is a problem?

The institutions were unprepared for the new situation and the solutions implemented were often ad hoc and lacked in terms of quality, means and methods (including technology) or chosen approaches. The content or focus of the solutions was often quite sporadic and did not sufficiently consider the local context, cooperation between the institutions was low and the involvement of the audience was often limited or not considered at all. Therefore guidance on the proper solution is needed.

Proposed solution

With project partners, 3 of which are representatives of the museum and cultural institutions, sharing their experience and drawing on lessons learned after crises, the BaMuR project intends to develop a toolbox that captures resilience from three different perspectives:

• Governance
• Digital sustainability
• Economic sustainability

Developed model is going to provide means for societal and institutional resilience during a wide-spread crises but also to serve as an integral part of the institutions core activities during periods of stability.

"To me the importance of the BaMuR project in strengthening the cultural sector is crucial as it aims to develop and test solutions that will be suited for each specific feature of cultural institutions" – Tanel Mätlik, Estonian War Museum – General Laidoner Museum

Why together?

Project partners from Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania and Poland collaborate to strengthen the resilience of museums, memory and cultural institutions. Transnational cooperation is needed for acquiring a broad range of approaches applied in different countries, considering intercultural differences, and reaching out to wider audiences in the Baltic Sea Region.