Intertwinings and Practice – research on audience participation in museums, libraries, and cultural centers

Cultural institutions across Poland are increasingly and more boldly engaging their audience in co-creating their programmes.

Museums, libraries, and cultural centers are increasing their accessibility, conducting audience research, and building local partnerships. However, many of these initiatives are created bottom-up, which means there is often a lack of tools for a comprehensive assessment of their impact on the organization. Evaluation often ends with an attendance count, rather than looking at the quality of the relationships built.

The ”Intertwinings and Practice” (Pol. ”Sploty i praktyki”) project is implemented as part of the Open Culture Studio at Centrum Cyfrowe. It combines research with practical support. Our main goal is to create a space that is friendly to people working in the cultural sector, encouraging self-reflection on their activities and providing inspiration for next steps. Participants of our self-assessment tool receive immediate feedback – a short description showing the stage of development of participatory practices their institution is at, as well as a set of inspirations tailored to their individual answers.

As part of the study, we look at the complex weave of conditions, experiences, practices, and relationships – all of which is unique to each institution. We distinguish four intertwined areas:

• Thread of programming: concerning the method of preparing the institutions’ offer, taking into account diverse perspectives, and the possibilities for the audience to co-create events.
• Thread of space: which includes the analysis of physical and digital space, examining whether the environment encourages active participation and exchange of experiences.
• Thread of communication: which focuses on dialogue, whether the language of the institution is inclusive, understandable, and provides space for feedback from the audience.
• Thread of management: concerning the organisation’s work culture, conducting research, developing team’s skills, and involving stakeholders in daily decision-making processes.

The project will result in two publicly accessible webinars introducing various aspects of cultural participation, an online survey available also after project’s completion (allowing for re-evaluation of one’s activities and progress), and a full report presenting conclusions from the survey results analysis, in-depth interviews, and desk research data.

Co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage under the Programme of the National Centre for Culture ”Kultura – Interwencje 2026”.