The third BILAD network meeting took place from June 26 to 28, 2024, at the Technical University of Munich. Many BILAD members gathered for three days of constructive discussions, engaging talks, an interesting visit to the Lenbachhaus. The focus was again on the concept of 4E cognition (Newen, De Bruin & Gallagher, 2020) and its relation to learning in informal settings. 4E cognition posits that learning occurs in an embodied, enacted, extended, and embedded manner, aligning well with the characteristics of many museum environments.
In the months leading up to the meeting, participants formed small groups, each focusing on one of four institutions (Museum König Bonn, Experimenta, DASA, and Deutsches Museum) and explored several exhibitions with the goal of applying the theoretical concepts of the 4Es to practical examples within informal learning settings. The results of these discussions were presented at the meeting and further elaborated upon, addressing the changes and challenges of this approach.
A keynote by Dr. Eva Specker from the University of Vienna provided inspiration, focusing on museums as learning spaces with an emphasis on aesthetic experiences. Two different tools for visitor research were presented by Palmyre Pierroux (SEEZ) and Lorenz Kampschulte (LePas). The visit to Cao Fei’s exhibition “Meta-Mentary” at the Lenbachhaus offered an opportunity to apply the 4E cognition framework in practice. Evenings were spent enjoying good weather, delicious food, a glass of wine, and some TV soccer matches. Finally, on the last day, the future of the BILAD network and further joint projects of BILAD members were discussed.