世界各地的每一家博物馆都面临着同一个难题——如何吸引年轻人走进博物馆，以探索未来为己任的澳大利亚探索博物馆（MOD.）更须破解这道难题。使用数字技术和沉浸式技术有利于吸引年轻观众，但博物馆必须首先激发他们的兴趣。要吸引从小就面临着气候、人口和环境等多重危机的青年群体，博物馆还必须解答青年提出的各种问题。
坐落于澳洲南部的澳大利亚探索博物馆自2018年开馆以来，利用沉浸式展览成功地吸引年轻人参与关于全球趋势的重要对话。
探索博物馆馆长克里斯汀·阿尔福德（Kristin Alford）博士指出，参观者调查研究发现，约30%的观众年龄在15至25岁之间，许多博物馆都认为这是一个难以吸引的群体。
“我们的观众以20岁左右的年轻人为主，我认为之所以能够取得这种令人欣慰的成果，主要在于我们的展览结合了年轻人关心的主题。”
探索博物馆除了借助学术研究和媒体来了解年轻人的关注点之外，还制定了具体攻略，确保博物馆接榫与年轻人相关的主题。
无论是参观人数，还是博物馆因锐意创新和独特创意在设计、媒体和旅游业等领域荣获的多个国内外奖项，都佐证了探索博物馆的成功之路。
“无论是参观者人数，还是博物馆荣获的多个国内外奖项，都佐证了探索博物馆的成功之路”
© 山姆·罗伯茨（Sam Roberts） / 由澳大利亚探索博物馆提供 | 位于澳大利亚阿德莱德的澳大利亚探索博物馆举办的展览《破碎》（BROKEN）。
参与者和参观者
探索博物馆借鉴了学术研究成果和媒体分析方面的进展，制定了目标明确的策略来抓住年轻人的关注点，让年轻人成为博物馆的参与者，而不仅仅是参观者。
积极的氛围
鉴于问题的严重性，研究气候变化等问题可能会使人焦虑不安。支持探索博物馆的一个深层次动力，是帮助年轻人理解各种未来叙事，其中也包括帮助他们更从容地面对不确定性。
“探索博物馆正在帮助年轻人理解各种未来叙事”
创造不一样的未来，或许可行
众多博物馆都在探讨机器人和人工智能等未来主题，但未来型博物馆与其他博物馆的区别在于，其在展览中致力于深度借鉴未来思维。
拓展阅读：
Australian fairy tales | 澳大利亚童话
Welcome to the world of tomorrow
The Australian Museum of Discovery in Adelaide, Australia, is preparing the next generation for the challenges of tomorrow. Young people are not only visitors to the museum but also key players in its programming.
Caroline Wilson-Barnao
Attracting young people: every museum in the world faces this challenge. But even more so for those like the Australian Museum of Discovery (MOD.), whose mission is to explore the future. The use of digital and immersive technologies can help to attract younger visitors, but first it must arouse their interest. To engage a population that has been confronted with climate, demographic and environmental crises since childhood, museums must also provide answers to the questions they are asking.
In addition to scanning academic research and the media to understand their concerns, MOD. draws on specific strategies to ensure it engages with topics relevant to youth. MOD.'s success can also be measured in terms of visitor numbers and the numerous national and international awards it has won for innovation and creativity in the fields of design, media and tourism.
“MOD.’s success can be measured
in terms of visitor numbers and the numerous
national and international awards it has won”
Drawing on advances in research and media analysis, MOD. has put in place targeted strategies to address the concerns of young people, and include them as participants at the museum, rather than just visitors.
MOD. hosts a “future themes forum” to shape the museum’s exhibition themes and topics. These are run using open space methodology so that audiences create and manage the agenda themselves.
“Every few years we hold a forum with around 100 people where the youngest participant is around 15 years old. We invite school students, teachers, academics, university students, and representatives from the industry sectors and ask them to think about what lies ahead,” says Kristin Alford.
In addition, MOD. works with a Youth Board that meets ten times throughout the year. In return for an honorarium, training in design and futures thinking, Youth Board members are presented with prototypes and concepts for input.
The current “BROKEN” exhibition, on display until November 2024, is a good illustration of this desire to take young people's concerns into account. Based on the feeling expressed by many that society is at a standstill in a number of areas (misinformation, climate justice, waste management, hypercapitalism, etc.), it encourages consideration of alternate worlds that offer inventive ways of “shaping a better future”. To do this, MOD. incorporates insights from specialists including those with expertise in economic policy, people working in futures, researchers in housing, society and climate, as well as writers, artists and First Nations people.
Other upcoming activities at MOD. include a session with experts on the language of trees (with a quiz and demonstration), and the Zina Warrior Print Fest, a gathering where local creators can buy, swap and sell their zines (mini self-published magazines).
Positive vibes
Exploring issues such as climate change can also be a source of anxiety when faced with the immensity of the challenges. An underlying driver for the museum is supporting young people to make sense of a range of future narratives which involves helping them to gain greater comfort with uncertainty.
“MOD. is supporting young people to make sense of a range of future narratives”
While many museums deal with future topics, such as robotics and Artificial Intelligence, what sets future-oriented museums apart is a deep commitment to drawing on futures thinking to inform their exhibitions.
“Futures-oriented museums are specific to place and culture and very much representative of a future out of their place. They’re not afraid to ask questions that challenge power and draw in multiple perspectives. We assume the future has the capacity to be different from the present,” explains Kristin Alford.
The Museum of the Future in Dubai, for example, presents experiences from 2071 to help visitors imagine possible futures for space, nature and personal well-being. Another example can be found at Questacon, the National Centre for Science and Technology in Canberra, Australia, which recently explored notions of copyright, ownership, creativity, and bias in an exhibition titled “Friend or Foe - the Rise of Artificial Intelligence”.
Museums like MOD. are a model for other institutions. Now more than ever, it is essential that museum exhibitions and policies do not avoid difficult subjects but strive to calm sometimes sensitive debate, so that citizens can establish informed opinions.
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Australian fairy tales | 澳大利亚童话
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