Dubai 2025: Museum Leadership 2030
Year(s): 2025
Description:
The Museum Leadership House (MLH) Dubai 2025 is the upcoming edition of the international non-profit platform connecting museum leaders, futurists, scientists, artists, and sociologists to explore the evolving role of museums in society and to shape actionable strategies for leadership and resilience in times of change.
Taking place in Dubai on 10 November 2025, as part of the ICOM Triennial Conference (11–17 November 2025) at the Dubai World Trade Centre, this edition will gather 25 museum directors and emerging leaders in an intimate setting to explore future scenarios and key priorities for museum leadership. The meeting will culminate in the collaborative creation of “Museum Leadership 2030”, a synthesis of visions and strategies that will feed into the broader dialogue at the ICOM INTERCOM Conference.
Key themes and discussion topics include:
Redefining Leadership in a Disrupted World — examining how the role of museum leaders is changing, what new skills are essential (digital literacy, political agility, emotional intelligence), and how to embrace shared, non-hierarchical models of leadership.
Museums and the Public Mandate: Trust, Activism, and Relevance — exploring how museums can serve the public amid polarization and societal shifts, and what actions they might regret not taking in the next decade.
The Future of Work: AI, Burnout, and Organisational Culture — addressing the impact of automation and AI on museum teams, work culture, and wellbeing, and envisioning the most human-centered museum of the future.
Academic advisory support is provided by the Institute for Digital Culture (University of Leicester), with dissemination support from ICOM INTERCOM.
Output:
The Dubai 2025 edition will deliver:
A collaboratively developed “Museum Leadership 2030” framework, summarizing key insights and strategies for the next decade of museum leadership.
Actionable foresight scenarios for navigating global disruption, digital transformation, and societal change.
A strengthened intergenerational network of cultural leaders committed to redefining leadership and resilience across the museum sector.
Partners:
