Over the past two years the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have started a series of debates about the state of and future of our museums. This is a three stage process: the first and second steps being papers developed in partnership with key stakeholders that are then offered for consultation, the third step being five seminars to translate the developed visions into concrete proposals. The series is now at stage two: the paper Understanding the Future: Priorities for England’s Museums sets out the priorities for the next decade for museums, nationals, local authority and independents alike, for the next decade.

CCSP are developing a response to the paper and we urge museums in Cumbria to do the same.

To read the DCMS paper either log in and go to the CCSP members' download area (where our response will also be posted) or go to the DCMS web site.

In January 2005 DCMS published the consultation paper Understanding the Future: Museums and 21st Century Life, with the aim of stimulating a debate on the issues surrounding the museums and galleries sector. The responses to the consultation strongly favoured the creation of a national strategy that would embrace the whole sector.