Museet som ett deltagandefält

ICOM's 2022 definition of museums highlights the responsibility of museums to promote diversity, sustainability and participation. Through participatory methods at the interface between museum pedagogy, artistic processes and sustainability work, museums have begun to develop new ways to engage audiences in issues of consumption, ecology and the future. Inspired by Arturo Escobar's understanding of design as an ontological practice, where design shapes not only products but also worlds, this text discusses how museums can become part of a broader participatory field for the transition towards ecological sustainability. Participatory design, in this context, is seen as a tool for enabling visions of the future, where different actors come together to co-create alternative ways of living and being in the world. The article highlights the potential role of museums in establishing posthuman participatory practices, and describes the example of ecocritical object theatre, where museum objects, props and the exhibition materials themselves provide visitors with the opportunity to reflect on more-than-human perspectives in a process of dialogue.