Quality Sealed
Awarded the Museum Quality Seal
As part of a several-month certification process, the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch was awarded the Museum Quality Seal 2023–2029. The Museums Association for Lower Saxony and Bremen honours high-quality museum work in accordance with the museum definition of the German Museums Association. An external advisory and review commission evaluated our work on site based on clearly defined standards. We developed and submitted our mission statement, museum concept, collection concept, collection care concept, documentation plan and education/communication concept. The certification is always accompanied by a clear mandate to further develop the museum and strengthen and expand various areas.
The review commission particularly highlighted that projects and funding were strategically used for the further development of the State Museum. It also positively noted that current professional challenges, such as provenance research on colonial heritage, sustainability and societal diversity, are incorporated into the work of the museum.
We see the Museum Quality Seal for our institution as an opportunity to sharpen and articulate our goals and concepts. Our interdisciplinary collection work was thus described for the first time, making it visible.
Process
The process for the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch started as early as the end of 2021 with the completion of an extensive questionnaire. All areas of the museum were involved and contributed. Topics included the museum’s financial, personnel and spatial resources as well as other basic prerequisites for meeting the ICOM standards.
From March to July 2022, extensive consultations and training sessions for staff took place. On 12 July 2022, visits were made by the office of the Museums Association and the expert consultant for collection care. Starting in April, the six required concepts were completed; they were submitted in July. In addition to the questionnaire and concepts, building plans, including their use, were submitted. In September, the commission members visited the Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch. The independent expert commission convened in November 2022 and decided to award the museum quality seal. In March 2023, the public announcement and official handover of the museum quality seal took place during the annual meeting of the Museums Association for Lower Saxony and Bremen in Lüneburg.
Museums based in Lower Saxony or Bremen, adhering to the ethical principles of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and recognize the ICOM Museum definition as well as the museum standards of the German Museums Association and ICOM Germany, are eligible to apply for certification. The general goal of the certification process is to improve the quality of museum work in line with the “Standards for Museums”. The process provides a foundation for future museum work and helps secure the institution’s funding eligibility. Participation also requires the willingness to actively engage in the self-evaluation process and provide open answers to all addressed points as well as to allocate the necessary time, staffing and financial resources for the process.
