Open Call: Reimagining Museums for Climate Action

Reimagining Museums for Climate Action asks designers, architects, artists, poets, philosophers, Indigenous groups, community groups, museum professionals and the public at large to radically (re)imagine and (re)design the museum to help bring about more just and sustainable futures in the climate change era. The competition invites you to think about how new approaches to the design, organisation and experience of museums can amplify and accelerate climate action in diverse contexts and at various scales, enabling museums and society to move farther, faster, together to a net-zero or zero-carbon future. Eight competition winners will be awarded GBP 2,500 each to develop their ideas for an exhibition at Glasgow Science Centre ahead of and during COP26.
As the world confronts a global pandemic that is impacting on all aspects of social, cultural and economic life, many of the certainties we may have had about the future seem less concrete. While thousands of museums around the world remain closed, new forms of engagement and experimentation have emerged to rethink the relationship between museums and society. Alongside a profound sense of loss and insecurity, there is hope: hope that the multitude of ways in which communities globally have responded to COVID-19 might inspire new forms of radical action to address the climate and ecological emergency. In this moment, it is particularly important to consider the unique capacities of museums to shape more equitable and sustainable futures.