Building a ‘community of good practice’ is an endeavour that is very close to our hearts. We all have a part to play in helping people find meaning and relevance in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and coming together as a community of practitioners, supporting each other to put research into practice and sharing our successes and failures is an important part of making this happen.
Recently we launched the Science In Your World programme, a national partnership which aims to expand our community of good practice to help increase diversity and inclusion in science.
It builds on the success of the Science Capital In Practice programme which was run in partnership with the Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) and 15 science organisations across the UK between 2019 – 2021.
Science In Your World brings together museum practitioners from regions of the UK where there are opportunities to inspire and engage unrepresented audiences in STEM. The programme aims to empower the museums and galleries to unleash the science in their collections – whether that be art works, historical transportation or local industry, to inspire and engage their local audiences to explore and make meaningful connections with science and wider science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) themes.
We have partnered with nine regional museums from across the UK for the programme:
- Aberdeen Archives, Galleries & Museums
- Banbury Museum & Gallery
- Coventry Transport Museum
- Grampian Transport Museum
- Hull Museums & Galleries
- Swindon Museums (Inc. STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway)
- Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life
- Torquay Museum
- Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (Inc. Discovery Museum)
Our first meeting with the programme partners was held online in November 2023. This was an opportunity for us to get to know each other a little and to share something about our organisations and what each of us currently offer for our visitors.
Then in February 2024, we welcomed two colleagues from each museum partner to a two-day, in person training session at the Science Museum, London. Over the course of these two days, we talked about the research around science capital, shared how we’ve been putting this research into practice, critically reflected on our work and made plans for what we all hope to achieve through this collaboration.
It was a hugely inspiring couple of days, which energised us all and helped us consider how we can support a much wider and more diverse audience to engage with us and with STEM. The ideas generated were very ambitious and reflected the enthusiasm everyone had. Some partners suggested new learning programmes, some were concerned about sharing the research with their staff and volunteers and some wanted to update exhibitions by including STEM and using ideas from the research to make them more inclusive.
Science In Your World is just getting started and we look forward to sharing more with you as it progresses.