Community engagement with research and innovation given a boost with new grants awarded to UK museums and science centres
Funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has been awarded to twelve outstanding projects by UK museums and science centres. The grants, totalling £827,945, have been made available as part of the Mindsets + Missions programme being delivered by the Museums Association in partnership with the Association for Science and Discovery Centres and The Liminal Space.
Mindsets + Missions is a pilot learning and grants programme designed to support museums, science centres and vibrant individuals from the sectors to realise new and creative approaches to serving their communities through inclusive research-related projects.
Credit to The Liminal Space, photo by Mark Newton
“With our new public engagement strategy, UKRI’s ambition is to break down the barriers between research, innovation and society. We are excited to be working with these 12 organisations to explore the diverse ways that museums and science centres can open up research and innovation and connect with underrepresented groups. Through this work we seek to put inclusivity at the heart of future museum and science centre engagement with research and innovation.”
Tom Saunders, Head of Public Engagement, UKRI
The 12 projects are dedicated to making cultural and civic engagement possible for everyone. They will bring diverse and plural perspectives to the development of the knowledge, research and innovation needed to build our future societies.
And through co-development and participatory practice, they will explore local and global issues, and generate ideas and outputs with the power to improve lives. As case study projects, they will help our museums and science centres to become more equitable and representative.
The 12 outstanding projects by UK museums and science centres:
The Mixed Museum - Reclaiming histories through science: co-creating a transformative space for new knowledge about the role of DNA in the lives of ‘Brown Babies’ families.
Durham University - Street Cosmos, connecting underrepresented communities across County Durham with the world-changing advances in space science research from Durham University
Dynamic Earth - Testing for Change, generating a step-change in how typically unheard voices and plural perspectives are represented in exhibitions and programming
Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales - Newid Byd/Something New, working with the learning disability community in Wales to co-create a new interactive museum display
Discovering42 – ‘Inclusive Interactivity’ will empower people with lived experience to guide the design and development of hands-on exhibits for museums and science centres which are more inclusive of people with limited mobility.
Fitzwilliam Museum – ‘Future/Power’ assembles around the forthcoming exhibition ‘Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance’, which examines the legacies of enslavement at Cambridge, to generate co-research, youth voice and engagement in local history through a Black history lens.
Kielder Observatory – ‘The North East Astro-Imaging Academy’ represents a mission to democratise access to astrophotography, to connect people in areas of socio-economic disadvantage with their dark skies heritage, and to empower them to participate in the generation of imagery and data to enrich academic research and further our understanding of the universe.
Manchester Museum – ‘Belonging in the Wild’ aims to catalyse new knowledge production and a step-change in equitable working with people with lived experience of disability by investigating and prioritising their understandings of the natural world, environmental action and social justice.
National Windrush Museum – ‘Enhancing Cultural Visualisation’ embraces innovation by focusing on collecting, preserving and visually showcasing Windrush narratives, promoting the Windrush 75th anniversary, engaging diverse audiences and preserving Windrush legacies.
Queer Britain – ‘Stories + Strategies’ will work to increase recognition of oral histories as valuable and impactful research practice and resources – focusing on LGBTQ+ histories – and reduce barriers against full inclusion of queer stories and heritage in museums, science centres and their connected sectors.
Winchester Science Centre & Planetarium – ‘The Sound of Biodiversity’ is a one-year pathfinder project, bringing together a ‘community-based learning eco-system’ to develop a new approach to engaging young children with science and nature through sustainability research.
Xplore! Science Discovery Centre – ‘A Place of Lifelong Learning’ will collaborate with diverse groups to develop initiatives which have significant, positive influences on people’s lives, and work to develop museums and science centres as places of lifelong learning.
Credit: The Liminal Space, photo by Mark Newton
Learning insights
The diverse portfolio of cross-sectoral, boundary-pushing projects has grown from a strong pool of applicants who were all involved in the Mindsets + Missions learning programme run in early 2023.
Led by The Liminal Space, participants from throughout the UK explored the central tenets of the Mindsets + Missions programme, developed partnerships and collaborations, and enhanced their practice and approach to research and innovation.
You can now read the learning insights report from The Liminal Space to find out more about the Mindsets + Missions learning programme.
Moving to the programme’s next phase of supporting projects and continuing to bring together a cross-sectoral cohort of practitioners, researchers and experts by lived experience, Mindsets + Missions aims to:
- Explore new and evidenced ways to engage underrepresented groups with research and innovation.
- Champion and inspire bold and creative practices in the museums and science centre sectors.
- Create resources and tools to support museums and science centres in this work.
- Share learning with the wider sector, including researchers, engagement practitioners and funders.
Having worked with the grantees on the Mindsets + Missions learning programme, we’re really excited to see these original new voices deliver an incredible diversity of brave and bold projects. We’re certain their work will inspire others within the museums and science centre sectors to embed positive change.
Sarah Douglas, founding director, The Liminal Space
