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During the last annual conference of ECSITE (European Collaborative for Science and Technology Exhibitions; Helsinki, June 2005), for the first time two discussion sessions were devoted to explainers, the innumerable people – young students mainly – who welcome visitors at exhibitions, museums and festivals, who animate laboratories and science shows, who guide, explain and lately also stimulate and manage discussions and participatory procedures. Thanks to the involvement of the speakers, who agreed to submit a broadened version of their papers, JCOM is glad to host the proceedings of these meetings. A great deal has to be done yet in order to analyse the complex European context and to fully understand the explainer’s professional profile.

The paper aims to build a ground for thinking about museums’ role in society and the development of the twenty-first century learner.  The first and second parts of the paper focus on the influences technological evolution and current global challenges have brought to our lives, and the consequent requirementsfor ‘new’ learning and skills. The third part examines how different elements of new pedagogies and approaches could reinforce the twenty-first century learner and could, moreover, inspire museums. The final part of the paper focuses on the specific contribution that museums could make by integrating their unique identity and approach with elements from the new pedagogies.