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12/20/23, 5:26 PM Dubai Culture anchors initiatives to enhance the appeal of heritage - TrendRadars
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Dubai Culture anchors initiatives to enhance the appeal of heritage
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) has concluded the Government Innovation Labs series, held
at Etihad Museum, to discuss plans and ideas related to innovating new services for customers and members of
Dubai’s public libraries, museums and heritage sites. The innovation lab discussions and sessions witnessed the
participation of over 45 Dubai Culture employees, volunteers and customers, during which they reviewed the
themes of the study ‘Innovating new services for customers — volunteering in the service of culture’ — the
outcome of which was 70 specific ideas aimed at stimulating volunteerism.
Participants in the sessions discussed the importance and role of social cultural assets in encouraging youth to
volunteer in public libraries, museums, and heritage sites in Dubai, especially as it would raise their level of
self-confidence, enhance their ability to communicate with others, and encourage their spirit of leadership. They
also discussed the possibility of offering an integrated training programme to prepare certified cultural
volunteers, launching the Distinguished Cultural Volunteer Award, and a digital platform for cultural volunteers,
linking it with the official volunteer institutions in the country, in addition to organising the annual forum for
cultural volunteers and designing volunteer museum competitions, among others. Ways to train young
volunteers to meet the needs of public cultural assets were also discussed.
The ‘Innovating new services for customers’ study included more than 170 suggestions to encourage demand
for membership services and improving their level with the aim of enriching customers’ experience during their
visits to the Authority’s cultural and heritage sites. Participants in the study suggested opening new Dubai
Public Library branches in shopping malls, launching a home delivery service for books, and creating new and
dedicated memberships for employees of the Dubai government, the federal government, the private sector,
international institutions and others, in addition to utilising Dubai Culture’s public-private partnerships to attract
new library members.
They also discussed the possibilities of improving the experience of visiting museums and heritage sites by
launching cultural memberships and cooperating with national public and private institutions as well as UAE
embassies around the world to organise various visits to the sites, along with designing visitor journeys, and
using modern technologies to introduce museum collections, plus others. Recommendations also included the
importance of organising periodic innovation labs targeting customers and volunteers to benefit from the range
of interactive sessions and workshops taking place in the labs.
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