Through commissioned projects, Happy Museum have supported museums to test out the Happy Museum Principles. The Case Studies below distill learning from a range of these projects. Whether it is prescribing happiness, putting making at the heart of the museum, experimenting with the role of play, building social capital or engaging with vulnerable communities – they each provide a fascinating picture of the Principles in practice.
You can also search for relevant case studies through our Story of Change framework which identifies themes such as sharing a wellbeing vision, working across hierarchies and teams, using the museum’s unique resources and considering the social and financial benefits of being green.
All Case Studies
- Thematic Case Study – Engaging emotions to promote wellbeing and build resilienceThis case study looks at how deliberately seeking to engage emotions can help to promote wellbeing in audiences and staff, and also build resilience in organisations.
- Thematic Case Study – Empowering staff, building external relationshipsThis case study is about how encouraging a culture of ‘active citizenship’ – in staff, volunteers and others – and seeking mutually beneficial relationships can lead to change, increased wellbeing ...
- Thematic Case Study – Smart use of resources, building resilience and stewardship of the futureThis case study is about how museum and galleries used Happy Museum thinking to have a new perspective on the resources available to them. This was not just about taking ...
- Thematic Case Study – Planning, developing and measuring what mattersThis case study looks at how different museums and galleries have made use of Happy Museum tools and approaches to evaluation. With evaluation built in from the start, the organisations ...
- Case Study – Gwynedd Museum, audience engagement through technology and nudgingThis case study looks at how a partnership between a research institute and a museum led to the development of a software app that allows visitors to ‘tag’ objects and ...
- Case Study – Museum of East Anglian Life, building social capital and promoting wellbeing.This case study looks at how the Museum of East Anglian life reimagined itself as a social enterprise and used appropriate evaluation tools to demonstrate the value of its work. ...
- Case Study – the Story Museum, wellbeing and sustainability from the startThis case study is about how The Story Museum team put wellbeing and sustainability at the heart of its ethos and vision for the museum as it prepared to open ...
- Case Study – Reading Museum, engaging with vulnerable communities.This case study is about how Reading Museum used a community history project to pilot a new approach to working closely and engaging with communities. The project changed perceptions about ...
- Case Study – Manchester Museum, developing skills to support child-led playThis case study is about how, through two projects, Manchester Museum aimed to embed playfulness. The first project trained the museum’s visitor team to develop their understanding of play and ...
- Case Study – The Lightbox, Woking, community engagement and co-creation.This case study is about how members of the community with mental health issues curated an exhibition called ‘Landscapes of the Mind’ – and helped The Lightbox to embed a ...
- Case Study – IWM North, new tools new ways of working.This case study is about how IWM North used the ‘story of change’ tool to develop overall vision. Related to this, the museum tested different approaches to visitor object handling ...
- Case Study – Godalming Museum, co-creating a new gallery with local people.This case study from Godalming Museum is about how deciding on a community engagement approach to developing a new exhibit rather than defining the exhibit at the outset led to ...
- Case Study – Derby Museums, participation, making and well-beingThis case study is about how Derby Museums put community participation and co-production at the heart of its project to refurbish and re-open The Silk Mill. Innovative forms of evaluation ...
- Case Study – The Cinema Museum, growing partnerships for wellbeing.This case study is about how The Cinema Museum used a small project focused on community wellbeing to reimagine itself as a provider of wellbeing programmes to local residents, service ...
- Case Study – Ceredigion Museum, partnership and social enterpriseThis case study from Ceredigion Museum is about how a project developing craft wares with local young people led to a range of wider benefits – important partnerships for the ...