Arts-based initiatives in museums: creating value for sustainable development

The challenges to sustainable development (SD) have intensified following increases in terrorism, with catastrophic effects posing threats for security and social inclusion. As Islam is being associated increasingly with terrorism, islamophobia has polarized people in regard to Muslim and non-Muslim integration in secular societies, including Australia. Against this background, using standpoint theory, we consider the Islamic Museum of Australia (IMA) as a case study for exploring the role of arts-based initiatives (ABIs) as a source of value creation for SD and how the value created is retained. Drawing on the standpoints of multiple stakeholders and methods-focus groups, interviews, forums and documentary evidence-our findings highlight how ABIs as 'soft' and 'non-threatening' tools promote SD, facilitate social inclusion and retain value over time with important policy implications.