The Dutch Open Air Museum (Nederlands Openluchtmuseum) is widely popular in The Netherlands; it appears in the top 10 most visited museums of the country. The museum holds a large collection of historical buildings and artifacts to showcase the everyday life of the past in the Netherlands. It is also the host of the Canon, a permanent exhibition containing the 40 most influential historical happenings in Dutch history.

In two Treehouse co-creation workshops, we explored new opportunities for the winter exhibition. In the first workshop, we reflected on the current setup of the winter exhibition together with internal and external stakeholders. In the second workshop, we invited a diverse group of experts to join us in creating new ideas for a future-proof concept. Throughout these workshops we gathered different insights: The winter exhibition needs to be much more inclusive; there are many different interpretations of ‘dutch winters’. Whatever happens in the exhibition, people need to feel they are connecting with others; relatives, or strangers. When you are visiting the museum, it needs to feel like you become part of it; visitors are actively involved in the exhibition.

With the insights we collected from the workshops we created an attractive storyline and new strategy for the winter exhibition for 2022 and beyond. Centred around exploration, celebration, and co-creation the new winter exhibition will move from ‘Experiencing the winters of the past’ to ‘Celebrating the winter together’; an inclusive concept for all and platform for future winters at the Dutch Open Air Museum.