Elizabeth Merritt, Vice President for Strategic Foresight and founding director of the American Alliance of Museums’ Center for the Future of Museums, applies trends forecasting and scenario development to help museums create brighter futures for their communities. At a time when AI, culture wars, government actions, and economic stress can make the future seem unknowable, Merritt will show how foresight can restore a sense of agency. This closing session will explore how museum people can envision positive change, cultivate resilience, resist apathy, and identify plausible paths forward in difficult times.

Museum Edition is a six-part online series for museum and cultural heritage professionals, students, and anyone curious about how museums can respond to a changing world.

Elizabeth Merritt — How to Face the Future, Cultivate Optimism, and Defy Dystopia