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27th January 2021

The Hull Maritime project has been selected as one of thirteen museum and heritage organisations in the country to take part on a UK-wide cultural programme inspiring urgent and inclusive action on climate change.

Making museums even more accessible for all our visitors

The ‘No Going Back’ peer learning programme, delivered by the Happy Museum Project, seeks to build on the particular power of museums to draw on past stories of rapid transition and transformation; and to inspire museums and their communities to shape new stories and actions to address the climate and ecological emergency.

Commissioned by Season for Change, led by Artsadmin and Julie’s Bicycle, and supported by Arts Council England and Paul Hamlyn Foundation, this peer learning programme will work as community of practice to explore and shape new ideas.

Councillor Daren Hale, Portfolio Holder for Economic Investment, Regeneration and Planning, Land and Property, said: “This is a timely opportunity to begin our cultural response to the climate crisis.

“Hull City Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and published a 2030 Carbon Neutral Strategy in response, and the cultural and leisure organisations in the city are uniquely positioned to host conversations and collaborations as we collectively try to navigate and educate on more sustainable ways of living with our audiences.”

Holly Walton, Community Engagement Officer at the Hull Maritime project, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to take part in this programme.

“The themes and possibilities which excite us the most are around making our sites and spaces dynamic and responsive to individuals, groups and communities in order to foster conversation, develop learning and, crucially, centre the work of imagination in how we approach the role of heritage sites in helping us look forward as well as into the past.

“With the focus of our project being heavily on the restoration of four key sites and two vessels relating to Hull’s maritime history, we are keen to develop our thinking as to how we integrate inclusivity, play, wellbeing and flexibility into the less fixed ways in which we work with visitors and communities.

“The project runs until 2024, with sites beginning to reopen to the public in 2022, this is the ideal time to ensure this thinking is embedded in everything we do.”

The participating museums and heritage teams include:

  • Cornwall Museums Partnership (CMP)
  • Leeds Museums and Galleries (LMG)
  • Museum of Oxford & Fusion Arts
  • National Waterways Museum, Canal & River Trust
  • Oriel y Parc National Park Visitor Centre and Landscape Gallery, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
  • RWA (Royal West of England Academy). Bristol
  • Saltaire World Heritage Education Association (SWHEA). Shipley
  • Scarborough Museums Trust (SMT)
  • Sustainable Exhibitions for Museums Group [SEFM], V&A and Museum of Ordinary People [MOOP]
  • Tees Valley Museums
  • University of Cambridge Museums group (UCM): the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) and Museum of Zoology (UMZC)
  • Wakefield Museums & Castles, Wakefield Council
  • Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City project, Hull City Council

Commissioned by Season for Change, a UK-wide cultural programme inspiring urgent and inclusive action on climate change, led by Artsadmin and Julie’s Bicycle, and supported by Arts Council England and Paul Hamlyn Foundation

For more information on the ‘No Going Back’ programme visit happymuseumproject.org

The programme has been commissioned by Season for Change