www.mqb.ch In July 2021, physical fences separated the museums, and colleagues from neighboring institutions barely knew one another. As the strategic lead and coordinator —aka cheerleader—of Museumsquartier Bern, I was tasked with uniting eleven cultural and educational institutions under a shared vision. My role was to develop collaboration frameworks, implement structural changes, and align diverse stakeholders—from directors and curators to city officials. I developed tools and structures for collaboration, establishing working groups and experimenting with different formats to foster engagement. Projects like the annual Sommerfest, the Kitchen Talks series, the Mehr Natur! initiative, the Vereinsküche, and a large-scale Hackathon brought institutions together in new ways. I spearheaded the cross-marketing strategy, that lead to the creation of a new umbrella brand - launched in early 2025. I also helped coordinate both individual renovation and construction projects as well as joint initiatives, such as the planned depot. This iterative, hands-on approach strengthened the bonds between the eleven participating cultural and educational institutions, laying the foundation for a dynamic and future-oriented Museumsquartier Bern. The challenge was not just logistical but cultural. How do you transform competition into collaboration? Through patient negotiation, trust-building, and a hands-on approach, I helped lay the foundation for a future-oriented Museumsquartier Bern. 

In the summer of 2021, we cut holes in the fences and installed doors in the hedge. A year later, we tore them down completely. What started as an ambitious vision became a reality: by 2024, no one could imagine that there had ever been a fence in the now-thriving Museumsquartier.