Museums Change Lives: How Museums Become Engines of Social Change
What is Museums Change Lives?
Museums Change Lives is an inspiring initiative launched by the Museums Association in the United Kingdom, aiming to highlight the social role of museums and their power to create positive change. Each year, awards are given to projects and institutions that, through creative and innovative approaches, achieve outstanding social impact—showing how museums can operate far beyond the walls of their exhibition galleries.
Examples of award-winning projects
One of the most notable examples is the Radical Changemaker Award winner, Marian Gwyn from Wales. Her work focused on inclusion in museums and preserving minority histories, especially through digital oral history projects in local communities. By using social media and digital archives, museums under her mentorship were able to give voice to marginalized groups, including Welsh Black and Jewish communities. This award celebrates individuals who, through new technologies and approaches, challenge established museum practices.
The Best Project Award went to “Families of the World” by Manchester Art Gallery, which successfully engaged children who are refugees and asylum seekers. Through multimedia workshops, children and their parents created their own stories using digital cameras and audio recordings. The result was a series of moving digital exhibitions presented on interactive screens in the gallery, where visitors could see and hear authentic voices and drawings from participants. The project was especially praised for enabling children to express themselves through technology they used directly—making their voices visible to the wider community.
The Best Small Museum Project Award went to “Illuminating Invisible Histories: Flavours Without Borders” by the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery. In this project, migrants and refugees worked with the museum to develop a digital cookbook and a scent-and-taste exhibition using audio-sensory stations. When visitors pick up a particular spice, it automatically triggers stories from people from Syria or Africa who brought that recipe with them. The system uses RFID technology to connect the scent stations with video stories displayed on screen, creating a multi-sensory experience that helps visitors form an emotional connection with the topic of migration.
The Championing Social Justice Award was won by the “Unicorn” exhibition at the Perth Museum in Scotland, which explored LGBTQ+ history through the symbol of the unicorn. The exhibition combined an interactive digital wall where visitors could leave anonymous messages of support for LGBTQ+ people, with an AR app that guided them around the city to find unicorn murals—which “came to life” on their phones and told stories of historical LGBTQ+ figures. This blend of technology and art helped the museum reach a wider audience, spark conversation around important social topics, and promote inclusion and understanding.
The technological side of the projects
What’s striking is that all of these award-winning projects use relatively simple yet creatively applied digital tools: social media, video and audio production, mobile apps, and online platforms. During the pandemic years, many projects had to adapt to an online format—for example, Manchester Art Gallery ran part of its workshops via Zoom, while Hastings Museum published its digital cookbook online to reach audiences beyond the museum.
In this context, technology isn’t only about technical progress—it’s also about museums opening up to the community and becoming a platform for sharing stories. Digital tools enable collecting (recording, documenting), sharing (the internet, social media), and interactive storytelling. This actively involves audiences, and museums stop being places of quiet contemplation alone—they become places of interaction and dialogue.
How do museums become drivers of change?
Museums Change Lives shows that museums are no longer just guardians of objects from the past, but living actors in social change. By integrating technology and engaging communities, museums can become platforms for diverse voices—places of learning and understanding, not just looking. Examples like these set a standard for the future: museums that want to remain relevant will need to recognize the importance of social engagement and use technology to extend their impact beyond their own walls.