Case Study: 10

Nieuw Land Heritage Centre (NLHC), Lelystad, Netherlands

Themes
Knowledge centre for the history of the youngest province of the Netherlands, Flevoland, a polder reclaimed from the water in the 1930s.

Keywords: regional history, polder, Netherlands, knowledge centre

Relation to wider policy agendas
e-inclusion: widen access
e-learning: enhanced learning opportunities
e-business: boosting cultural tourism

Demand
As the main funding body it was in the Province's interest to merge the organisations for efficiency reasons as well as ideological reasons. The economic viability of existing small institutions was weak. Visitor/ users numbers were low and it was felt that the (his)story of the Province of Flevoland could be presented and disclosed in a more resourceful way to a wider public if the collections were brought together in one institution.

Description

• To present and preserve the history of the Province of Flevoland
• To widen access to the collections of all institutions by creating presentations and educational programmes for visitors of all ages
• To encourage (scientific) research into the history of Flevoland and its cultural heritage

Products/ services

• Six permanent presentations (two for children), one temporary exhibition
• Interactive website: http://www.nieuwlanderfgoedcentrum.nl
• Educational activities: teacher packs, resources for papers and assignments, conferences, lectures
• Multimedia library and research centre: scientific research into the collections of all institutions; facilities for public to undertake own research
• Archaeological Storage: preservation of archaeological finds from the region
• A cinema: showing historical films from collection
• A Restaurant: local theme food
• A shop: selling items related to presentations, exhibition, project theme.
• Meeting rooms: for external and internal use

Internal barriers/ constraints

• Different corporate cultures
• Diversity of missions and objectives for each organisation
• A lack of a common vocabulary
• The fear of compromising quality requirements by professional staff to meet the demands of a wider public
• The speed of the process and the resultant feeling of insecurity among staff

External barriers/ constraints

• A lack of awareness of how to position the new organisation which cannot call itself a 'museum', nor an 'archive', nor a 'research centre'. In Dutch the word 'heritage' (erfgoed) has a rather dull image;
• Although Lelystad is only 40 minutes away from main towns such as Amsterdam and Utrecht, there is the perception that it is off the beaten track which means the new institution has to work hard to position itself as an attraction worth travelling to;
• Complicated administrative/ governing structure representing local and regional authorities with conflicting interests, different legislative requirements and, generally, very procedural working methods.

Keys to success

• A successful digital collaboration: http://www.flevolandbovenwater.nl, which started in 2001, proved the benefits of cross domain working.
• The ambitions and pioneering spirit of the provincial administration
• A familiarity between the partners and stakeholders
• The speed of process which enabled action through trial and error rather than too much reflection
• Targets are reached (70,000 visitors a year) which ensures that the services with a lower economic output such as the study centre can remain involved to safeguard the concept and mission of the institution
• Strong internal and external communications which ensures commitment and keeps everybody in the loop.

Impact
On strategy development:  Nieuw Land Heritage Centre has been developed in a climate of financial cutbacks. Planning and building the new centre has had a positive entrepreneurial impact on other organisations in the public sector, at local as well as regional and national level. Small local institutions seek ways to collaborate with NLHC and therefore strengthen their own position or are inspired to explore other partnerships. NLHC is negotiating to become a satellite museum of a major national collection.

On delivery of services:  Too early to say
For end users: Too early to say

Dissemination of lessons learned
Formal discussions with: Convention of Keepers of Public Records and Provincial Heritage Units.

Informal discussions with:  Director's museum network.

Domains involved
Museum, state archives, municipal archives, research centre (social history), institution for the storage of archaeological finds.

Geographical coverage
Flevoland, Netherlands.

Standards/Guidelines used
None so far as the process of creating an integrated collection management strategy is about to start

Partnership
Municipality of Dronten
Municipality of Lelystad
Municipality of Urk
Municipality of Zeewolde
Zuiderzeeland Water Board
Nieuw Land Polder Museum
Archaeological Depot of Flevoland
State Archives of Flevoland
Social Historical Centre for Flevoland

Funding sources
NLHC's budget is made up of the exploitation budgets of the four merged partners plus a contribution from each municipality (related to number of inhabitants) and the Water Board Zuiderzeeland (fixed sum), totalling more than 2,500,000 Euros. Since mid 2002 10,500,000 Euros has been invested in building and refurbishment of the location. The Province of Flevoland is the main funding body of NLHC, followed by the national government.

Lifespan of project
Ongoing

Status of project
Opening 26 February 2005

Relates to
www.flevolandbovenwater.nl (access to the Province's digital collections of cultural heritage; educational resources)

Host Organisation
Nieuw Land Heritage Centre

Organisation type
The Nieuw Land Heritage Centre was established as a Public Corporation on the 1st of February 2004. There are three main departments:

1. Collection and research, headed by a departmental manager
2. Public and Presentation, headed by a departmental manager
3. Operational management and Finance, headed by the director.

Two departmental managers and director together form the Management Team.
Nieuw Land Heritage Centre employs 16 staff.

The Calimera Project is funded under the  European Commission,
IST Programme

Last Updated 14/07/05 | Comments email: webmaster@calimera.org