Museum development training at national scale
Designing and delivering museum development training as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030
Delivering museum thinking across cultures, languages and histories — without simplifying the questions that matter.
Context
As part of Vision 2030, the Ministry of Culture – Museums Commission commissioned a national programme to support the development of museum practice and capability across the Kingdom.
The ambition was to equip a new generation of museum professionals with the skills, confidence and frameworks needed to develop meaningful exhibitions and contribute to a rapidly evolving cultural sector.
Eagle & Oak was invited to contribute specialist expertise to the programme, working with a large and diverse cohort of students across multiple regions.
The challenge
The programme needed to operate at significant scale, while remaining:
accessible to participants with very different levels of prior experience,
sensitive to cultural context,
and practical rather than theoretical.
Participants were expected to move from early exhibition ideas to fully developed concepts — a process that can be daunting even for experienced professionals. The training therefore needed to balance structure with encouragement, and consistency with flexibility.
Turning ideas into shared practice through conversation, reflection and confidence-building.
“Thank you so much for your kind words and incredibly helpful feedback! It was an absolute honour to meet and train with you as well. Your belief in my talent and interpersonal skills means a lot to me. I will definitely take all of your valuable insights to heart as I embark on future projects.”
Our approach
Jon was recruited by Backyard Experiential / Ilum Studio, the company appointed by the Ministry of Culture, and approved directly by the Ministry.
Working as part of the delivery team, his role combined content development, teaching and mentoring.
Training materials were delivered through a bespoke online platform developed in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum Group, and included content written by me. These materials guided participants step by step from initial ideas through to coherent exhibition propositions.
Jon delivered training in person across five regions of Saudi Arabia, as well as online, adapting delivery to reflect local context and participants’ existing knowledge. Alongside group teaching, Jon worked one-to-one with individual students, offering direct guidance on exhibition development, professional practice and career direction.
Particular care was taken to understand:
participants’ cultural and educational context,
their confidence levels and previous exposure to museum practice,
and the realities of the environments they were likely to work in.
This enabled the training to remain rigorous while also being supportive and realistic.
Training rooted in real places, real institutions and the future of the Saudi museum sector.
Outcomes
The programme engaged 300 students across five regions, many of whom will go on to play significant roles in Saudi Arabia’s expanding museum sector.
Participants progressed from tentative early ideas to structured exhibition concepts, gaining confidence in:
articulating purpose and audience,
developing coherent narratives,
and understanding the practical implications of exhibition-making.
For Eagle & Oak, the project reinforced the value of carefully structured training paired with individual mentoring, particularly in fast-developing cultural contexts. It also demonstrated how large-scale programmes can remain human, reflective and impactful when delivery is grounded in respect, curiosity and dialogue.
“Thank you so much for all that you did. I can feel that you were teaching and transferring knowledge and experience from your heart…”
Why this matters
Training future museum professionals is not just about transferring knowledge - it is about building confidence, judgement and agency.
This project shows how thoughtful, culturally aware training can support sector development at scale, while still meeting individuals where they are and equipping them to shape the future of museums in their own contexts.
If you’re developing people, skills or confidence across a museum or cultural sector — and want training that is rigorous, culturally grounded and genuinely human — let’s talk