TOMORROW IN THE GOLDEN STATE: MUSEUMS AND THE FUTURE OF CALIFORNIA

The coming decades will bring massive changes in our society: political, financial, cultural, technological and ecological. These forces will contribute to the stress communities experience and museums can play a vital role in preparing for and responding to these challenges. As trusted conveners, museums can lead their communities in exploring where current trends may take us, identifying preferred futures and helping bring them into being.

We are proud to publish this resource guide to support museums in embracing this role as leaders in realizing preferred futures. CAM and the American Association of Museums hope it will encourage museum practitioners to develop the habit of futures thinking: scanning for change, forecasting where trends and events may take us, envisioning potential futures and integrating the resulting insights into their planning.

DOWNLOAD GUIDE HERE

• a quick overview of future studies and forecasting—the why and how of it
• an overview of trends and events that may shape California and its museums in coming decades
• five scenarios of potential futures to stimulate your thinking and catalyze conversation
• suggestions for how to integrate the results of these discussions into your institutional planning and how to encourage community action
• agendas, potential invite lists and notes on logistics to help plan a forecasting session
• a list of additional resources to support deeper exploration of the future 

We are excited to mark the 30th anniverary of CAM by partnering with AAM's Center for the Future of Museums and view this guide as a significant step forward in fostering important conversations about the future of museums and our state.

The publication design was sponsored by: