Abstract

In the process of building local communities with shared cultural values, museums, libraries and community centres are key agents in civil society. When these institutions project specific notions and ideal types of identity and citizenship, they have the potential to produce changes in people’s behaviour. It is only natural that political bodies are interested in these processes. On 16 September 2016, the Ministry of Human Capacities of the Hungarian Government launched an EU-funded project with the primary aim of strengthening social cohesion within the region. As a part of this project, we surveyed 59 professionals working in Hungarian museums, libraries and community centres, using the Delphi method, to gain insights about their capacities, needs, and visions. This article presents the results of the first round of analysis. Respondents’ answers were analysed using NVivo qualitative data analysis software, which resulted in a thematic map showing the main problems professionals in these sectors are struggling with, and highlighting the kinds of visions they had for their institutions’ future. The study clearly shows that the cultural sector is plagued by financial problems, and that there is a strong need for reform when it comes to the professional training of workers in these fields. Regarding the future, visions are centred around cultural institutions increasingly becoming community spaces, thinktanks, and ideas workshops that consciously guide community formation.

Highlights

  • In this study we have presented what Hungarian community centre, library and museum professionals think about the values and strengths of their institutions, what problems they are aware of and focus on, and how they envisage their institution’s future role in society

  • The results presented here are not to be considered as final, but will be used to construct the second-round questionnaire in which these answers, together with the answers to other firstround questions not analysed in this study, will be summarised and formulated into a series of more specific questions

  • The main contribution of the current study was to identify consensus and dissensus in what experts think about the values, strengths and problems of their respective institutions, and how they see the future of their institution ten years

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Summary

Introduction

On 16 September 2016, the Ministry of Human Capacities of the Hungarian Government launched a project with the primary aim of strengthening social cohesion within the region. Visions – The ideal situation in ten years’ time Analysis of survey responses revealed two main pathways towards the future highlighted by cultural institution professionals.

Results
Conclusion
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