We Are Museums

What We Are Museums does

We Are Museums is a France-registered NGO (operating as Buzzeum, Siren 50862130700026) founded in 2013 and headquartered at 13 rue du Jura, Paris, with a secondary presence in Berlin. The organization describes itself as a research and practice innovation lab for museum changemakers, running multi-year programs at the intersection of museums, innovation, and social purpose. Its portfolio includes five interconnected labs (Museums Facing Extinction, Museums Facing Crisis, Reframe Collecting, Better Digital Futures, Museumhood) plus the WAC Lab focused on Web3, blockchain, and generative AI for cultural institutions, along with research projects such as Bio-Inspired Museums and the Museums on the Climate Journey visual roadmap.

Underlying intellectual property consists of proprietary methodologies (systems thinking, peer-to-peer learning, community building, future-thinking, behavioral change frameworks) and a content library of handbooks, toolkits, video recordings, and a Mighty Networks community platform, all distributed free under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. Technology integrations are operational rather than productized: YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, Mailchimp, and event-tech vendors (Oveit, Nubart), with WebsiteCarbon embedded in climate resources. There is no public API or SDK; the core_technology is explicitly characterized as methodology and research frameworks rather than a software product.

We Are Museums is funded through grants and programmatic support from institutional partners including EIT Climate-KIC (anchor for climate work), Tezos (WAC Lab), ICOM/COMCOL, NEMO, Smithsonian, Julie's Bicycle, and the Biomimicry Academy, among others. GTM is event-driven and community-led, centered on annual rotating-city conferences (Vilnius, Warsaw, Berlin, Bucharest, Riga, Marrakech, Katowice, Paris) supplemented by online programs, a weekly newsletter, Medium articles, and a dedicated community platform. The organization does not sell subscriptions or licenses; all resources are access-free, and pricing is not publicly disclosed. Governance is provided by a three-member board (Bernardine Bröcker Wieder, Sophie Egly, Laurence Perrillat) with Diane Drubay serving as Founder & Executive Lead of a 1-10 person distributed team.

Name

We Are Museums

Legal name

We Are Museums

Website

https://wearemuseums.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

We Are Museums is a France-based NGO and research-and-practice innovation lab, founded in 2013, that runs multi-year programs, conferences, and free resources to help museums worldwide transform in response to climate, digital, and social challenges.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Museum and Cultural Sector Innovation Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

akta.pro primary industry

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA)

Keywords

• Museum transformation programs
• Climate action research
• Cultural sector innovation
• Community of practice
• Arts and culture research

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and Program Support: We Are Museums operates as a France-based NGO (registered as Buzzeum, Company Number Siren 50862130700026) that receives grants and programmatic support from partners such as EIT Climate-KIC and other institutional supporters.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

We Are Museums is a research and practice innovation lab that designs and runs multi-year lab programs (such as Museums Facing Extinction, Museums Facing Crisis, Reframe Collecting, Better Digital Futures, Museumhood and WAC Lab) supporting museum professionals worldwide. It produces free handbooks, toolkits and visual roadmaps (under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), organizes annual international conferences since 2013, and sustains a peer-to-peer online community for museum changemakers focused on climate action, digital responsibility, crisis resilience, and socio-cultural innovation.

Product overview

We Are Museums is a research and practice innovation lab offering a portfolio of programs and initiatives focused on museum transformation. The core offerings include five interconnected lab programs: Museums Facing Extinction (climate action), Museums Facing Crisis (resilience), Reframe Collecting (diversity and inclusion in collections), Better Digital Futures (technology innovation), and Museumhood (community engagement). The WAC Lab specifically addresses Web3/blockchain opportunities for cultural institutions. Additionally, the organization produces free handbooks, toolkits, and visual roadmaps as educational resources, all licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. The portfolio functions as an integrated suite where climate and digital transformation programs share methodologies while addressing different aspects of museum evolution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WAC Lab: Web3 for the Arts & Culture Lab - A program exploring blockchain, generative AI and metaverse technologies for cultural institutions.
• Museums Facing Extinction
• Museums Facing Crisis
• Reframe Collecting
• Better Digital Futures
• Museumhood
• Open Museums

Products and services

• Museums Facing Extinction A multi-year climate action lab program designed to turn museums and their local communities into climate leaders, fostering systemic changes toward a climate-resilient future through community-based actions.
• Museums Facing Crisis A resilience-focused lab addressing how museums can respond to social tensions, health crises, political pressures, military conflicts and natural disasters while championing societal ideals.
• Reframe Collecting A collaboration with ICOM/COMCOL investigating how museums can reframe collecting as a strategy for collective care, exploring new ethics and behaviors in museum collecting practices.
• Better Digital Futures A lab program fostering development of the museum ecosystem through technological innovation, ensuring the digital realm becomes socially, environmentally and economically conscious.
• WAC Lab (Web3 for the Arts & Culture) A multi-season research, educational and practice program exploring blockchain, generative AI and metaverse technologies for cultural institutions, supported by the Tezos ecosystem.
• Museumhood A lab defining museums as local public incubators of multicultural social bondings, focusing on community engagement and neighborhood connections.
• Open Museums (API Culture Day) Events program focused on open APIs and data accessibility in culture, helping museums embrace policies of total openness for their collections.
• Bio-Inspired Museums Research project exploring how museums can be transformed using nature-inspired principles (mycelium networks, permeability) to better connect with communities and ecosystems.
• When Museums Meet Videogames A series of talks and collaborative workshops exploring the intersection of videogames and museums, fostering collaboration between cultural institutions and game studios.
• Museums on the Climate Journey (Visual Roadmap) A visual roadmap with practical climate actions organized in four levels: a network of 80,000 museums, using your voice, acting as a neighbor, and turning the museum green.
• Handbooks and Toolkits Access-free resources including the WAC Handbook Collection (covering blockchain, generative AI, metaverse), Museums on the Climate Journey Handbook, Systems Thinking Handbook, and conference essentials, all under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
• Making Sense of Immersion (online program) An online program creating a safe space for dialogue to harvest collective knowledge and collaboratively solve industry challenges around immersive experiences in museums.

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EIT Climate-KICcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU-funded knowledge and innovation community focused on tackling climate change. Major partner supporting multi-year Museums Facing Extinction program and climate action initiatives. Europe's largest public-private partnership dedicated to climate innovation.
• Biomimicry AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGermany-based organization focused on biomimicry thinking and innovation. Co-developed 9-month research project on Bio-Inspired Museums exploring how museums can become part of local ecosystems.
• ICOM COMCOLcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Committee for Collections of ICOM (International Council of Museums). Collaboration on Reframe Collecting program investigating how museums can reframe collecting as collective care.
• Museum ConnectionsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership for collaborative events and programs including Making Sense of Immersion online program.
• KiCulturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization focused on cultural sustainability. Partner for climate action programs including Systems Thinking Handbook and Museums Facing Extinction initiatives.
• NEMO (Network of European Museum Organisations)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean museum network supporting knowledge sharing and collaboration. Listed as partner and collaborator on multiple programs.
• VastariminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlatform for museum exhibitions and touring. Partner for events and conferences.
• MuseumsForFuturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMovement connecting museum community with Fridays For Future climate activism. Key partner in climate action initiatives.
• Climate Heritage NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of cultural heritage organizations responding to climate change. Partner in climate action programs.
• French Embassy / Cultural ServicesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCultural arm of French Embassy, particularly US. Partner for programs like When Museums Meet Videogames with Villa Albertine.
• SmithsoniancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor US museum institution. Partnership on When Museums Meet Videogames program and broader innovation initiatives.
• Villa AlbertineminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFrench cultural institution in the US. Co-presented When Museums Meet Videogames program with French Embassy and We Are Museums.
• Julie'S BicyclecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity focused on sustainable innovation in arts and culture. Partner for Museums Facing Extinction program providing expertise on climate action.
• UN Live MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMuseum for the United Nations. Partner for Dialogues on Museum Resilience program focusing on crisis preparedness.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• MuseumNext: MuseumNext is a community and conference platform focused on innovation in museums, producing international events, publications and a network for museum changemakers — directly comparable to We Are Museums' event-driven, community-led model targeting the same museum transformation agenda.
• Climate Heritage Network: Climate Heritage Network is a WAM partner and a global network of cultural heritage organizations responding to climate change. It overlaps directly on museum climate programming and shares audience and partners with We Are Museums' Museums Facing Extinction work.
• NEMO - Network of European Museum Organisations: NEMO is the European museum network WAM lists as a strategic partner. Both organizations focus on knowledge sharing, policy advocacy, and professional development for European museums, with overlapping audiences in museum innovation and transformation.
• Julie’s Bicycle: Julie's Bicycle is a WAM partner and a leading charity supporting sustainable practice in arts and culture. It is the most direct comparable in providing climate-action frameworks, toolkits, and advisory for cultural institutions.

Emerging players

• Culture Declares Emergency: Culture Declares Emergency is a UK-based movement of cultural organizations declaring climate and ecological emergency — a directly comparable climate-action community within the cultural sector that competes for the same audience of museum climate leaders.
• Happy Museum Project: Happy Museum Project is a UK charity helping museums put wellbeing and sustainability at the heart of their work — a comparable small-NGO model targeting museum transformation, community engagement, and planetary thinking.

Regional players

• European Museum Academy: European Museum Academy promotes European museum excellence through awards, training and exchanges — a regional peer sharing We Are Museums' focus on museum innovation, professional development, and Europe-based programming.

Broad incumbents

• American Alliance of Museums (AAM): AAM is the largest US museum membership organization providing accreditation, advocacy, professional development and climate/sustainability programming (including its Environment and Climate Network). It serves the same museum changemaker audience as We Are Museums but at far greater scale and as an established institutional incumbent.
• Museums Association (UK): The Museums Association is the UK membership body for museum professionals, producing journals, events, training, and advocacy. It addresses a similar museum changemaker audience with a more established, paid-membership business model.
• International Council of Museums (ICOM): ICOM is the global museum NGO network that WAM partners with (ICOM/COMCOL on Reframe Collecting). ICOM operates the international museum standards, committees, and global convening role that overlap with WAM's international museum changemaker community.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLy6Q1emq30ZCMo4hMaXXZi6OXJ2QZPDY7
• Xx.com/WeAreMuseums
• Facebookfacebook.com/wearemuseums
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wearemuseums

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about We Are Museums