Museums Change Lives Awards 2023

Shortlists to be announced soon
The Museums Change Lives Awards recognise and celebrate outstanding practice by UK museums delivering social impact. They promote the best examples of work by museums and individuals that support communities and engage with contemporary issues.
Nominations are now closed, and shortlists for each category will be announced soon.

Categories and criteria
There are three awards to be presented to institutions, and one to an individual. This section sets out the different awards and the criteria by which they will be judged.
Institutional awards
Best Museums Change Lives Project
This category will recognise the best practice in the field of social impact by a museum within the period of eligibility.
The judges will be looking for high quality innovative work that reflects one or more of the themes of Museums Change Lives: Enhancing health and wellbeing; Creating better places to live and work; and/or Inspiring engagement, debate and reflection.
Judges will look in particular for projects that:
- Work in partnership with other organisations to deliver positive outcomes
- Have a clear link to the museum’s collection and/or venue
- Support community cohesion and work in collaboration with local groups
- Diversify the museum’s audience
- Enable audiences to take action or change behaviour in response to the work
- Use research to underpin project delivery and outcomes
- Are relevant to major current social or environmental issues
Museums applying for this award can also apply for any of the other institutional awards, subject to eligibility.
Best Small Museum Project
This category will recognise the best example of work delivering social impact. It is only open to museums with an operating budget of less than £320k p.a. in the most recent completed financial year.
The judges will be looking for high quality innovative work that is designed to deliver social impact. Applicants should show how their work reflects one or more of the themes of Museums Change Lives: Enhancing health and wellbeing; Creating better places to live and work; and/or Inspiring engagement, debate and reflection.
Museums applying for this award can also apply for any of the other institutional awards, subject to eligibility.
Decolonising Museums Award
This category will recognise the best example of a museum using decolonising practice to recognise the impact of the legacy of empire and slavery in any area of its activities. This could relate to work on collections, buildings and places, the museum’s workforce or collaborative practices.
Judges will look in particular for projects or work that:
- Clearly demonstrate how their work helps to decolonise their institution or area of work
- Align with the principles of decolonising practice set out in the MA’s guidance, Supporting Decolonisation in Museums
- Clearly demonstrate collaboration and partnership working with target audiences/stakeholders
- Clearly demonstrate how the museum implemented its plans and embedded long-term change
- Have a clear link to the museum’s collection and/or venue
Museums applying for this award can also apply for any of the other institutional awards, subject to eligibility.
Individual award
Radical Changemaker Award
This award will recognise the contribution of an individual who has advanced the cause of delivering social impact in one or more museums.
The judges will be looking for evidence of how the individual has actively contributed in the past year to the delivery of one or more of the themes of Museums Change Lives: Enhancing health and wellbeing; Creating better places to live and work; and/or Inspiring engagement, debate and reflection.
It is open to employees, freelancers or volunteers.
You can nominate yourself or another person. The nominee must be a member of the Museums Association.
Judging panel
The panel will comprise MA conference panel members, board members, MA staff and external partners.
Awards ceremony
The awards will be presented in a ceremony at Conference 2023: The Power of Museums, 7-9 November at Sage Gateshead. All shortlisted nominees (a total of 12) will receive two free entries to MA Conference 2023 for the day of the awards.
Prizes
The MA will seek to arrange cash prizes of £500 for each of the award winners.
In addition, the winners of each award will receive a trophy, a framed certificate, and substantial coverage in a special report in Museums Journal and via the MA’s other communications channels.
Hero image: We Are Queer Britain! at Queer Britain, winner of Best Small Museum Project in 2022