SAMMEN FF – A museum collaboration for innovative participatory research
Welcome to SAMMEN FF – a network for museum collaborations to initiate innovative participatory research!
Museums have always combined research and contact with a broad audience. The goal of the network is to make everyone working in museums in Norway more aware of how we are already carrying out participatory research, and how we can become even better at it.
For many museums, the voluntary efforts and engagement of private individuals have been crucial for collecting objects, documentation and data, as well as for establishing and running local and regional museums. Today, this is often referred to as citizen science, while a more fitting term for studies within the humanities may be participatory research.
Participatory research can include everything from people outside the museum contributing information and data that can be used in research, to active participation in the development, implementation and dissemination of research projects. The type of collaboration one chooses will vary according to theme and context, for example the museum’s focus and resources.
Collaboration between several museums – both consolidated regional and local museums and university museums – can provide inspiration and extended resources for creating beneficial and exciting citizen research projects.
In 2024–2026, the Museum of Cultural History is leading a project to establish a lasting network for professional discussions about museum approaches to participatory research, and for exploring opportunities for new collaborative projects within this field.
Although project funding ends in the spring of 2026, we wish to continue the network. New project activities will be announced on these pages and via the mailing list.
About the project
The Museum of Cultural History is leading a project to establish the network of collaboration with Østfoldmuseene and the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Norsk Folkemuseum) in the period 2024–2026. The project is funded by the Research Council of Norway (NFR).
