Small Maritime Museum Management Course
This course gives you the essential tools to revitalise and streamline the running of a small maritime museum. You will learn to connect with your community, attract visitors and make the most of limited resources with innovative, practical strategies, from collection care and exhibition design to education and promotion, so that your museum becomes a dynamic, relevant cultural center.
Prior knowledge check
These are the skills this program gives you. Tick the ones you already master and we will tell you which part of the syllabus is for you.
You are starting from scratch in this subject. The program is designed precisely for that.
What is the Small Maritime Museum Management Course?
This short course prepares you to run a small maritime museum, interpretation center or heritage collection with limited budgets and small teams. You will study what defines a small maritime museum and its mission, values and audiences; tangible and intangible maritime heritage; inventory, cataloguing, preventive conservation against humidity, salinity and corrosion, storage and digitisation of collections; museography, exhibition narratives, room layout, interpretation and accessibility; and educational programs, cultural mediation and partnerships with fishermen, boatbuilders, associations, volunteers, schools and local authorities.
What sets this course apart: real case studies of the successes and challenges of other small maritime museums; practical templates and guides you can apply straight away; a focus on the specific constraints of small institutions, from staffing and volunteering to visibility and operational sustainability; flexible online study at your own pace from any device; and an applied project in which you diagnose a real or simulated museum and build its exhibition, education, community and annual operating plan.
Program highlights
- Museum foundations: mission, vision, audiences and the cultural positioning of a small maritime museum.
- Collections care: inventory, cataloguing, preventive conservation, storage and digitisation.
- Exhibition design: narratives about fishing, shipyards, trade, shipwrecks and coastal life.
- Visitor experience: interpretation, clear texts, accessibility and adapted routes.
- Community and education: guided tours, workshops, oral memory, volunteers and partnerships.
- Applied project: an exhibition, education and annual operating plan for a museum.
Syllabus of the Small Maritime Museum Management Course
5 modules. Select a module to see its content.
Foundations of maritime museum management, naval heritage and institutional mission
- 1.1. The concept of the small maritime museum and the differences between a local museum, an interpretation center, a private collection and a community cultural space
- 1.2. Tangible and intangible maritime heritage: boats, instruments, documents, crafts, memories, routes, traditions and port culture
- 1.3. Mission, vision, values, target audience and cultural positioning of the maritime museum
- 1.4. The relationship between the museum, the coastal community, the nautical sector, tourism, education, research and heritage conservation
- 1.5. Challenges for small museums: limited budgets, small staff, basic conservation, visibility, volunteering and operational sustainability
Collections, preventive conservation, inventory and documentation of maritime heritage
- 2.1. Types of maritime collection: models, nautical charts, photographs, tools, ship parts, uniforms, engines, nets and testimonies
- 2.2. Inventory, cataloguing, object records, photographic records, provenance, condition and documentary traceability
- 2.3. Preventive conservation against humidity, salinity, corrosion, light, dust, pests, handling and the deterioration of materials
- 2.4. Storage, packing, basic cleaning, environmental control and safety criteria for sensitive objects
- 2.5. Digitisation of archives, photographs, plans, oral records and historical materials from the maritime environment
Exhibition design, museographic narrative and the visitor experience
- 3.1. Fundamentals of museography and the differences between permanent, temporary, traveling, thematic and interactive exhibitions
- 3.2. Building exhibition narratives about navigation, fishing, shipyards, maritime trade, shipwrecks, ports and coastal life
- 3.3. Organizing rooms, routes, display cases, panels, lighting, signage, audiovisuals and interactive elements
- 3.4. Heritage interpretation through clear texts, meaningful objects, human stories and connection with the territory
- 3.5. Basic accessibility, inclusion, easy-read texts, adapted routes and attention to different visitor profiles
Education, cultural mediation, activities and relations with the maritime community
- 4.1. Designing guided tours, school workshops, heritage routes, talks, demonstrations and family activities
- 4.2. Cultural mediation to explain maritime heritage to children, adults, tourists, researchers and the local community
- 4.3. Involving fishermen, sailors, traditional boatbuilders, yachtsmen, associations, volunteers and community oral memory
- 4.4. Educational programs on naval history, marine sustainability, traditional crafts, maritime safety and coastal culture
- 4.5. Partnerships with schools, higher education centers, ports, sailing clubs, archives, libraries, town councils and tourism bodies
Applied project in managing a small maritime museum
- 5.1. Definition of the case: local museum, maritime collection, interpretation center, heritage room or coastal cultural space
- 5.2. Diagnosis of the collection, audience, resources, facilities, community, communication and conservation needs
- 5.3. Design of the museographic plan with narrative, exhibition, route, key objects, accessibility and visitor experience
- 5.4. Preparation of the educational program, community activities, partnerships and local participation strategy
- 5.5. Development of the operating plan, funding, communication, indicators and annual sustainability of the museum
Duration and format of the Small Maritime Museum Management Course
It is 300 hours. Tell us how many you can study each week and we will tell you when you will really finish.
This is the pace at which most students finish. It fits well with the installment plan.
Academic leadership and faculty
The Navalis teaching team: working professionals who teach and supervise the programs.
Dr. Marina AlcoverAcademic Director and Head of Quality Assurance
Eng. Diego CifuentesSenior Lecturer in Naval Welding and Non-Destructive Testing; Head of QA/QC for Welded Joints
Capt. Javier Abaroa (MCA)Senior Lecturer in Ship Handling, Electronic Navigation (ECDIS/Radar/ARPA) and GMDSS; STCW Compliance and Bridge Resource Management Coordinator
Dr. Pau FerrerSenior Lecturer in Naval Architecture and Simulation; Director of the Hydrodynamics and CFD Laboratory
Dr. Nuria LlobregatSenior Lecturer in Marine Meteorology, SAR and Operational Safety; Navigation Risk Management Coordinator
Eng. Javier BañulsSenior Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, Automation and ETO Engineering; Electronic Integration and Engine Alarms Coordinator
Eng. Sofía MarquinaSenior Lecturer in Materials, Composites and Corrosion Protection; Coordinator of the Advanced Paints and Coatings Line
Eng. Tomás RieraSenior Lecturer in Propulsion, Alternative Energy and Hybrid Systems; Energy Performance and Vibration CoordinatorObjectives of the Small Maritime Museum Management Course
Career opportunities after the Small Maritime Museum Management Course
Questions about the Small Maritime Museum Management Course
Balancing the care of collections and research with the need to attract visitors and generate enough income to operate sustainably with limited staff and resources.
Preventive conservation in unstable environments with humidity, temperature changes and salinity, and the lack of space and infrastructure to store bulky objects such as boats, rigging or instruments.
It covers preventive conservation, safe storage, handling, basic cleaning and environmental control. Specialist restoration treatments are left to qualified conservator-restorers.
Yes. Many small museums depend on volunteers, and the course shows how to organize their work, involve the community and record oral memory.
Yes. One module covers museography, exhibition narratives, room layout, display cases, panels, lighting, signage, interpretation and accessibility.
You choose a real or simulated museum or collection, diagnose its situation and design its museographic plan, education program, partnerships and annual operating plan with indicators.
Fully online, at your own pace, through a virtual campus available 24/7 from any device, with case studies, downloadable templates and tutorials with the teaching staff.
The course comprises 300 hours of study across 5 modules of about 60 hours each and ends with an applied project. You can progress at your own pace within the schedule set when you enroll.
More programs in Culture and heritage
Admission process
No waiting for a call back. If your documents are in order, you can enroll in the same session.
- Profile: aimed at managers and staff of small maritime museums, students and recent graduates in museology, maritime history or cultural management, volunteers and members of museum friends' associations, local administrators and tourism officers, and maritime history enthusiasts; a background in art history, museology, history or anthropology, or experience in cultural management or maritime heritage, is helpful but not essential.
- Language: sufficient command of English to follow the classes and the technical documentation.
- Technical resources: a computer with a stable internet connection, an up-to-date browser and software to view PDF documents.
- Admission: online application, review of your profile and a short interview with the academic team.
- 01ApplicationYour details, background and documents.
- 02Instant reviewWe check that everything is complete and in order.
- 03EnrollmentChoose full payment or instalments and reserve your place.
Admission is provisional until the committee validates the documents provided. If you do not meet the requirements, the full amount is refunded.
Ask us before you enroll
Leave your details and admissions will write to you to answer any questions. If you are already sure, you can apply and pay in the same session.