Welcome (back?) to Labs

At Birmingham Museums Trust, You’ll often hear the mantra “good enough for now, safe enough to try.” It’s a reminder that progress comes from having a go, not waiting until everything feels perfect. Sometimes that means we get it right, sometimes we don’t—but either way, we learn.

Labs is where we’ll share some of that learning. The good, the bad, and the messy bits in between. We’re inviting teams to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how we’re trying to make Birmingham’s museums more open, more useful, and more connected to the people who use them.

You’ll find updates about:

• Experiments that worked (and a few that didn’t).
• How we’re tackling challenges around money, buildings, collections, and audiences.
• The people behind the projects—staff, volunteers, and communities—who make things happen.
• Steps we’re taking towards bigger goals like sustainability, accessibility, and inclusion.

We’re not pretending to have all the answers. But we do believe that by being open about the process, we can build trust, spark ideas, and show that museums are living, changing places—not just buildings full of objects.

We’ll keep sharing what we try, what we learn, and what comes next.

P.S We wanted to thank previous contributors, posts were first shared on Labs in 2021/22 but as teams and focus changed, Labs fell by the wayside – We’ve archived those posts and here’s to trying to post more (and with more people posting)…