Protecting the Hometown and Its Values

Yilan has extensive experience in community building. In 1995, the Yilan County Government put forward the concept of the “ecomuseum” or “living environment museum”, proposing to make all of Yilan a museum. The Lanyang Museum would be a starting point to promote Yilan and for inter-museum connections. In 2001, the Yilan Museum Association was established as the first museum alliance founded by the public in Taiwan. Making a “family” of museums in Yilan lay an important foundation for positioning Yilan as a massive museum. More than 60 small museums are now part of the family, with the Lanyang Museum at the center. Through public-private partnerships, they are jointly promoting the museum movement in Yilan and fulfilling dual roles as local learning centers and preservers of local culture. By working together in areas such as ticketing, exhibitions, archiving, recording of local stories, marketing, and website integration, these museums are punching above their weight and turning Yilan into a living environment museum.