165 Exploring the roles of the museums and visitor centres Recent decades have seen the emergence of a new generation of visitor centres that mediate cultural heritage and have evolved into increasingly complex institutions, thereby blurring the line between visitor centres and museums. The role of a visitor centre is to sup- port heritage site visits by providing information, raising awareness of the site, and welcoming both tourists and the local community.1 At the same time, museums are also seeking to embrace the diver- sity of their roles and objectives, which up until now have distin- guished museums from other cultural heritage institutions. The current definition of a museum also regards the institution primarily in the context of its role in service to society. Museums and visitor centres operate in three key fields – cultural, economic, and societal – and assume three key institutional roles: cultural, public, and economic (see Figure 1).2 Assuming responsi- bility for heritage mediation and education, while competing for 1 UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, The Role of Visitor Centres in UNESCO Designated Sites, 2020, n. pag., https:// www.unesco.de/sites/ default/files/2020–04/ role_of_visisitors_cen- tres_in%20_unesco_desig- nated_sites_2020.pdf [access: 21 January 2022]. 2 P. Pruulmann‑Venger- feldt and P. Runnel, “When the Museum Becomes the Message for Participating Audiences” [in:] Democratis- ing the Museum: Reflections on Participatory Technologies, eds. P. Runnel and P. Pruulmann- ‑Vengerfeldt, Frankfurt am Main 2014, pp. 35−54. Matthias Ripp, Pille Runnel, Michaela Staube Visitor Centres and Museums: Brothers and Sisters – from the Same Family but with Different Personalities