Strategic Plan 2005 - 2007 adopted in June 2005 in Paris (France)

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Seoul gave new resonance to the meaning and importance of adaptability and transformation. ICOM's 2004 Triennial General Assembly in that city reaffirmed our commitment to ICOM's Core values and Mission as articulated in the strategic plan of 2001-2007, while at the same time providing the forum to encourage global debate about the issues engaging the attention of museum professionals and museums in the determination to embrace diversity while at the same time protecting identity and preserving the world's heritage, tangible and intangible.

Through the dedicated work of the Seoul Programme Committee in structuring the initial version of the organization's 2004-2010 Strategic Plan, ICOM's membership adopted a programme for the future which took account of our expanding audience and the growing needs of its members and the audiences we serve. Given the tremendous challenges facing both the museum profession and the organization itself, ICOM's draft strategic plan reflected the critical need for active engagement with the realities of globalization while ensuring the sustainability of our cultural and natural environment. ICOM's process of regeneration must continue.

ICOM's Executive Council in December 2004 in examining the requirements for its implementation decided to go even further. In order to successfully execute the programme to which the organization was committed, it recognized the need for a distillation and clearer articulation of those elements which formed the essence of ICOM's raison d'etre. The results of this intensive process of exploration and open dialogue with a core group of ICOM's strategic partners and staff, gave council the confidence to further pursue this process of restructuring and rearticulating the strategic plan.

The process was widened with the intensive scrutiny to which this draft was subjected by a small focus group of representatives of Programme Committee, council and staff in April 2005. Taking on board the important process of prioritizing the strategic objectives, this exercise afforded further opportunity for reflection and critical analysis. The Council then undertook further reviews when examining this new draft during the period following.

ICOM's Secretariat then engaged in the essential task of bringing to bear the invaluable knowledge and experience which remains at the heart of the organization in conducting a thorough gap analysis and articulating the environmental scan on which our assumptions are based. The Council wishes to take this opportunity to congratulate the staff on bringing its all the elements of its own resourcefulness, expertise and commitment to the organization to bear on this exercise to produce a remarkable, succinct and accurate projection for the future landscape in which ICOM must survive, exit and thrive.

This strategic plan envisages an accessible, resilient organization capacitated to promote mutually beneficial partnerships amongst it membership, while ensuring the integrity and relevance of its programmes within a flexible and authoritative framework for action .The Council is committed to making this vision a reality.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The ICOM Strategic Plan 2005-2007 reflects how the Organisation's Core Values and Mission statement are to be communicated through our activities, and how ICOM intends to position itself in the wake of new challenges and opportunities.

The implementation of the Strategic Plan will enlist the commitment, creativity and energy of the entire organisation - from individual and institutional members to National and International Committees - in increased synergy with present and new partners.

The realisation of the Objectives of the Strategic Plan will be achieved through actions resulting from an Environmental Scan that spells out our assumptions about the three-year period examined with regard to external and internal circumstances conditioning the creation and development of museums, the evolution of the museum profession, and the future needs of cultural and natural heritage; all of which, in turn, determine the activities that ICOM will undertake.

The Strategic Plan objectives will ensure that ICOM remains a dynamic and relevant organization in the heritage community. ICOM will intensify its efforts to promote best practices in museums through its Code of Ethics for Museums, and by continuously generating and sharing information and knowledge with professionals all over the world.

The need to raise public awareness for the protection of cultural identity and heritage against disasters and illicit traffic will also be addressed with yet greater vigour, as will the organization's role in assisting disaster stricken heritage institutions, continuing on the path set with its response to the tsunami catastrophe in the Pacific in December 2004.

The Strategic Plan will enhance the role that the UNESCO-ICOM Information Centre will have in the organization's service to the world community, including not only ICOM members and UNESCO specialists, but also NGO's, independent researchers, students, and museum professionals at large. Overcoming challenges (resource limitations) and seizing opportunities (computerisation and the Internet), the UNESCO-ICOM Information Centre must take a leap into the digital era, transcend its physical confines and make its resources available in cyberspace to support ICOM's mission and activities.

Finally, Information and Communication Technologies have been identified as an essential tool to assist ICOM in achieving its Strategic Plan objectives through wider dissemination of information to the natural and cultural heritage community throughout the world. ICOM's innovative use of the ICTs has already proven its effectiveness in bringing together and strengthening the global heritage community, interconnecting with and giving visibility to small, local museums and museums in less developed countries; in this respect, ICOM intends to contribute to the World Summit of Information Societies' agenda by increasing its commitment to its <.museum> top level domain, and through it, the innovative Internationalised Domain Name, which will safeguard cultural identity through linguistic diversity in cyberspace.

This Strategic Plan has been conceived as a living document that will be adapted to an ever-changing environment. The product of a multi-year collective process that provides us with an updated road map, it is intended to consolidate ICOM as the undisputed international body of museum professionals, and as an effective advocate for heritage protection and cultural diversity.

2.0 ICOM'S CORE VALUES

ICOM acts upon these core values:

      - commitment to the conservation, continuation, and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, tangible and intangible
      - recognition of human creativity in all its manifestations, and its value to all parts of society in interpreting the past, shaping the present, and mapping the future § recognition of intellectual, cultural and social diversity, and respect for difference, as forces for cross-cultural understanding and social cohesion
      - professional development, training, mentoring, exchange of expertise and mutual assistance among networks of museum personnel
      - professional conduct, observance and promotion of ICOM's Code of Professional Ethics
      - encouragement and particular support for museum work and heritage initiatives that are multi-lingual, inter-disciplinary, multi-faceted, or cross-cultural; or linking disparate people, countries and regions
      - community education and skills-diffusion as an integral part of capacity-building, contributing to sustainable development according to varying socio-cultural needs
      - publication and dissemination of information in support of ICOM's objectives
      - democratic values, communication, and service-orientation promoted throughout ICOM as an organization
      - engagement with public issues of social change, and active participation in debates on arts, culture and heritage impacting on the work of museums and museum professionals
      - joint action with partner organizations, and projection of ICOM's work and values internationally

3.0 ICOM'S MISSION

ICOM is the international organization of museums and museum professionals, committed to the conservation, transmission and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.

As a non-governmental, non-profit body, ICOM establishes professional and ethical standards for museum activities, promoting training, advancing knowledge, addressing issues, and raising public cultural and social awareness through global networks and co-operation.

4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN FOR STRATEGIC PLAN 2005-2007

The following assumptions for 2004 - 2007 identify those areas that may have an impact on ICOM' s ability to effectively carry out its Strategic Plan.

External environment

    1. Creation and development of museums will continue at a sustained rate § to promote (cultural and heritage) tourism, § as countries all over the world realize that museums are needed to preserve their moveable cultural heritage in the face of continued demand from. Private and institutional buyers.

    2. Illicit traffic in cultural and natural heritage will increase to satisfy expanding market demand

    3. Specialization will characterize a significant portion of new museums, which, in turn, will create new museum professions and needs for new services.

    4. The ICT s will continue reshaping museums - marketing, exhibitions, collections, conservation, access to collections (e-museums, virtual experiences), new museum professions and new services.

    5. Privatization and demands for economic sustainability of museums will continue threatening scientific rigour and testing ethical practices.

    6. Restitution will cease being an isolated phenomenon as UNESCO's campaigns and ICOM's activities will sensitize international public opinion on the equation cultural heritage = cultural identity.

    7. Strategies for the protection and promotion of cultural diversity will increasingly target young audiences and minorities, tightening the links between museums, schools, and communities.

    8. Risk management capacity building programs for museums will be in greater demand as the media's coverage of natural and man-made catastrophes heightens museum professionals' and public awareness for the need of disaster preparedness and response. Internal environment

    9. ICOM individual membership will continue its growth in the next few years, as the profession will continue its expansion

    10. ICOM institutional membership may be affected by membership cost rise.

    11. New international committees will be created in response to evolving heritage definition specialized museums and new museum professional specialisms.

    12. The Secretariat will be required to provide more services and support as International Committees and membership grow, and in response to the external environment.

    13. ICOM will need to create synergies with other natural and cultural heritage partners to provide cost-effective responses to new needs by the museum community.

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