"Museums in Focus" in Joensuu
The Museums of Joensuu have proceeded with project implementation with a focus on the development of cultural services in the museums. While travel and focus groups related to the project had to be re-planned due to the exceptional circumstances, developing the audio guide services for the museums still continued at full speed. As museums (and other public institutions) in Finland were closed from mid-March to early June 2020, the museums decided to set up social media activities for its followers and customers. The museums regularly highlighted items, works and stories from their exhibitions (of the North Karelian Museum Hilma and Joensuu Art Museum) for their followers to enjoy and comment on. These activities were well-received by those who temporarily couldn’t visit and experience what the museums have to offer, and were a valuable source of feedback for the development of cultural services, as viewers were encouraged to give their own opinions on what they found interesting and what they would wish to find in the new audio guides.
The project staff of the Museums of Joensuu have partly moved to remote working conditions since March. While some staff continue to work from their offices in the museums as essential staff, some have moved completely to remote working as per government and city instructions. The project staff has scheduled regular meetings online not only to keep track of development and project progress, but also to facilitate innovative discussions and planning for the project which would normally happen as office or coffee table conversations. The outlook for both the project and the museums of Joensuu is currently looking good, as the development of cultural services is entering to the technical implementation phase.
The social media highlights from the museums are posted in both English and Finnish, and can be seen in the museums’ Instagram and Facebook accounts:
https://www.facebook.com/pohjoiskarjalanmuseo/
https://www.facebook.com/joensuuntaidemuseo/
The project KA9021 "Museums in focus: development of cultural services for Chinese tourists" is financed by the European Union, Finland and Russia.