Striving for relevance: The social value of museums

Social value in various patterns is a key objective for museums. Despite the growing interest in the societal relevance of cultural organisations and museums, there is little understanding of the social value and the appropriate way to account for and communicate its key dimensions. This contribution aims to fill this gap by investigating the literature on the value generation of museums – focusing on social value. The article discusses the case study of the Natural History Museum Vienna (NHM) – featured as an institution that especially pays attention to biodiversity issues and environmental concerns. The study relies on a series of interviews with staff members, a document analysis and a participant observation from 2017 to 2023. This approach enables to map the social activities of the museum, to analyse the interactions with key stakeholders and to understand the relevant categories of social value as well as its communication and impact.