Our partnership with the National History Museum on Environmental Project: This Broken Planet

The National Coal Mining Museum for England (NCMME) has been announced as one of 12 museums, heritage and cultural partners across the UK to run events and activity focused on creating advocates for the planet, in partnership with the Natural History Museum (NHM), London.

The Fixing Our Broken Planet: Interconnected programme provides funding, displays, and access to scientists, to support activity which works with communities towards a more hopeful future.

As part of the project the National Coal Mining Museum will be hosting a youth-led nature festival and exhibition both of which will be developed and co curated by young people in the local area.

The festival and exhibition will encourage children and young adults, especially from former coalfield communities, to take action to mitigate climate change and biodiversity. The project will highlight the Museum’s important stories around energy production, including the environmental impact on coal. It will also focus on the museum’s outside spaces including its water treatment facility’s natural cleaning process.

Working collaboratively with local young people, the project will offer important work experience opportunities and innovative ideas for addressing the planetary emergency.

To support the project the Museum has collaborated with Yew Tree Youth Theatre and Spark (Wakefield Local Cultural Education Partnership) who have secured further funding of £3,000 from Creative Minds and Prosper.  This will enable the Museum to partner with Spark’s Youth Arts Ambassadors and other youth groups who will work collaboratively with the museum to co curate and develop both the festival and exhibition.

Lynn Dunning, CEO of the National Coal Mining Museum for England said: “”We’re delighted to be part of this very important project and to be partnering with the Natural History Museum around the issues of climate change and the environment. This initiative aims to inspire children and young adults, particularly from former coalfield communities, to take meaningful action towards mitigating climate change and supporting local habitats.

The project will look at energy sources around coal both historically and new opportunities into the future and how landscapes around coal fields have changed and incorporated natural habitats.”

“By working collaboratively with local young people and fostering innovative ideas to address the planetary emergency we will take positive steps towards a brighter future.”

“We would like to thank the Natural History Museum, Creative Minds and Prosper for giving us the opportunity to take part in this exciting and vital project.”

Tom Bevan, Head of National Programmes, Natural History Museum, said, “We’re proud to support the fantastic work our partners are doing to empower communities to connect with issues facing the natural world. Across the country, we interact with nature in different ways. This programme is perfectly placed to amplify stories from different communities and drive meaningful action for a future where people and planet thrive.”

This programme is part of Fixing Our Broken Planet at the Natural History Museum, which includes the opening of a new permanent gallery, Fixing Our Broken Planet, in April 2025.

The funding opportunity was made available to members of the Fixing Our Broken Planet: Community of Practice, a museum sector network established in September 2023 to create advocates for the planet. Over the coming years, it will continue to support 200+ organisations to connect communities at a local, national and global level with the science surrounding the planetary emergency to build a truly global advocacy movement. To find out more, or to join the community, click here.

The Natural History Museum has received funding from a wide variety of trusts, foundations, companies and individuals who generously supported the Fixing Our Broken Planet gallery and programme including Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UK Research and Innovation, Wellcome and GSK.

In addition to funding, partners will have access to NHM scientists and researchers, and content drawn from the new permanent gallery, Fixing Our Broken Planet, announced to open in April 2025.