The purpose of this initiative is multiple:

• Encourage joint reflection among our members throughout the year and not only at the annual conference
• Increase the interactivity of our annual meetings by including discussion groups based on the group’s work and exchanges during the year
• Possibly allow members who could not attend the annual conferences to participate remotely in a focus group on a topic of interest to them.
• Identify specific skills around certain topics in order to enrich our training offer during regional workshops

The Special Interest Groups in operation are:

• Professional development of museum educators
  Coordinator: Wencke Maderbacher (wencke.maderbacher[at]yahoo.de)
  Focus: Strengthens the field of museum education by sharing knowledge on training, fair contracts, inclusion, and visibility. Provides a platform for professional growth and advocacy.
  Language: English.
  Open to: All, via registration.
  More information
  Calendar 2025–2026

 

• Surveying audience reception of educational and cultural programmes
  Coordinators: Marie-Pierre Delaporte (marie-pierre.delaporte[at]mahj.org), Katy Tari (ktari[at]pacmusee.qc.ca)
  Focus: Exchange between museum professionals and social science researchers on audience surveys, methodologies, and visitor–museum relationships.
  Language: French.
  Open to: Professionals interested in the topic.
  More information
  Poster: “Museum. Process for a visitor survey” —
  HD version
  Low-resolution version

 

• Universal Accessibility – The Inclusive Museum
  Coordinators: Raffaella Russo Ricci (raffaella.ricci[at]paris.fr), Viviana Gobbato (contact[at]vivianagobbato.com)
  Focus: Examines the concept of universal accessibility, emphasising how mediation systems designed around specific needs can enrich and facilitate museum visits for all visitors. Activities address evaluation, planning, policies, research, engagement, and visitor experience.
  Language: English and French (French exclusively for the French-speaking GIS working group adapting the “A Museum for All!” poster into an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand tool).
  Open to: Professionals working in the fields of accessibility and inclusion, upon registration.
  Interactive poster (note: some browsers do not support interactivity)
  Poster for printing
  More information

 

• Museum Education and Decolonization (CECA LAC)
  Coordinator: Silvana Lovay (sillovay[at]gmail.com); Co-coordinator: Adriana Palafox (adripalarg[at]gmail.com)
  Focus: Builds a learning community to dismantle colonial logics in museum education and heritage spaces. Promotes situated dialogues, methodological tools, and collaborative projects across Latin America and the Caribbean. Subgroup meetings address specific topics to further enrich methodologies and practices.
  Language: Spanish (with Portuguese contributions).
  Open to: All interested individuals.
  More information
  Plan for 2026: Programa de trabajo GIE 2026
  

 

• Sensitive mediation
  Coordinator: Anne Sophie Grassin (asgrassin[at]gmail.com)
  Focus: Develops a conceptual framework for sensory mediation in museums, emphasising affective, bodily, and imaginative dimensions of visitor experience.
  Language: French.
  Open to: Closed group of 11 professionals from France, Canada, Belgium, and Switzerland.
  More information

If you are interested in participating in the discussions around one of the themes, please contact the coordinator of that theme. It will integrate you in a first online working group.
Opportunities for exchange with the rest of the CECA members will then be offered according to technical arrangements and a timetable specific to each group, but allowing participation in the work of several groups if so desired.