ABSTRACT
The concept of flourishing in museums and the global diversity of illustrative examples provided within this volume use abundance-thinking and a strengths-based appreciative approach to museum purpose, function, and being. Even within the most difficult contexts, abundance-oriented methods and perspectives can inspire and elicit flourishing in visitors, staff, and communities, positioning museums as places where people find meaningful and purposeful work and where visitors find meaning. Museums can enable visitors to flourish across the whole range of topics, when confronted with highly sensitive subjects and challenging perspectives, as well as with lighter fare. Likewise, the synthesis of the tremendous amount of research could help museum workers guide their own practice at work and cultivate a culture of care in museum work. Recognizing museums as complex, dynamic systems allows us insight into the connections and causes for why things exist as they do and gives us the power to make choices that lead to change.
