Dialogues for Democracy

The Challenge
Until recently, the National Trust has focused its attention on bringing the public to mansions, parks, and other artifacts of upper-class life. The Workhouse marks an opportunity to make social welfare and the struggles of impoverished people a part of Britain’s national heritage. It offers the chance to raise awareness of ongoing struggles with poverty among traditional visitors to National Trust sites, to engage new kinds of visitors, and to introduce historical perspective to contemporary conversation on British welfare and social exclusion.

The Dialogues for Democracy Questions

How do our welfare systems today compare with those of the Workhouse era?
Where would the people who lived in the Workhouse be today?
How have things improved, or if anything, become worse?
What solutions to poverty and its related issues may we try in the future? Is there anything new that has not been tried before?

The Program
At the conclusion of its tour of the Workhouse, the Museum will offer a special exhibit designed to stimulate visitors to explore today’s issues of poverty in Britain in historical perspective including unemployment, homelessness and social exclusion. The exhibit will not draw conclusions or make judgments, but will encourage visitors to ask questions, make connections, and participate in finding solutions. It is designed for three target audiences: Museum visitors (including traditional visitors to historic sites, community groups, and people underrepresented in museums); formal education groups of all ages; and specialists (including policy makers, organizations addressing poverty today, and other museum professionals). Trained facilitators will engage walk-in visitors in dialogues at scheduled times throughout the day; organize special dialogues among people in the welfare system; and invite organizations dealing with poverty today to collaborate on temporary exhibits and policy discussions.

Impact
For visitors who have not considered issues of poverty today, the program will raise greater awareness of the ongoing problem and offer opportunities to participate in finding solutions. For those engaged with dealing with poverty issues today, the program will provide valuable historical perspective on their work.

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Dialogues for Democracy

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