Since January 2017 the Museum of English Rural Life (the MERL) at the University of Reading has been running a project called Making, Using and Enjoying: The Museum of the Intangible. This project explores the potential of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and creative and digital practice to improve research and understanding of our collections and to extend engagement.

As part of the project we are developing a ‘toolkit’ to help museums and heritage organisations use the combination of intangible cultural heritage ideas and visual arts and other creative practices to engage and enrich the lives of new audiences. To help us develop this toolkit, we would like your input.

This survey should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

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* 1. Are you familiar with the concept of 'Intangible Cultural Heritage' (ICH)?

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* 2. There are many ways of understanding and interpreting the idea of intangible cultural heritage.

UNESCO defines ICH as 'the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills – including the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated with them – that communities, groups and individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage.' UNESCO typically divides ICH into five ‘domains’: oral traditions; preforming arts; social practices, rituals and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and traditional craftsmanship.

If you answered yes to Question 1, is your understanding of ICH the same as that given by UNESCO? If your understanding is different, please explain what you understand ICH to mean.

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* 3. Do you think your audiences are familiar with the concept of ICH?

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* 4. Do you think a museum is a suitable place to engage with ICH?

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* 5. How do you think museums can engage with ICH?

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* 6. Do you think a museum is a suitable place to support the safeguarding of ICH, i.e. to ensure the skills, knowledge and practices are transmitted from one generation to the next?

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* 7. If you answered 'no' to the previous question, can you suggest a better type of organisation for supporting the safeguarding ICH?

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* 8. How do you think museums can support the safeguarding of ICH?

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* 9. Do you currently engage with ICH in any of your exhibitions or activities?

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* 10. Would you like to engage with ICH in any of your exhibitions or activities?

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* 11. Are you aware of any good examples of museums which engage with ICH? If yes, please tell us about them.

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* 12. Do you currently engage with visual arts and other creative practices in any of your exhibitions and activities?

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* 13. Would you like to engage with visual arts and other creative practices in your exhibitions and activities?

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* 14. Would you be interested in reading the toolkit we are developing to help museums and heritage organisations use the combination of ICH and visual arts and other creative practices to engage and enrich the lives of new audiences?

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* 15. If yes, what information/resources would you find it useful for the toolkit to include? Please tick as many boxes as apply.

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* 16. Name

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* 17. Organisation

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* 18. If you are happy for us to contact you directly to find out more about your experiences and to share the finished toolkit with you, please provide your email address.

Thank you for your time.