We The Curious

We’re launching a new website, soon! And we need your help…  🖥️ People have told us that our website is not always the easiest to use, and we’ve been working hard to change that.   Over the past year, together with a web development agency Fat Beehive, we’ve made something new and pretty. But....we want to make sure that is serves the people it’s made for.  Please help us by putting our new website to the test by playing around with it for 10-20 minutes and if you can, sharing what you think. It can be done remotely and whenever is convenient for you. Your opinion will be anonymous but invaluable!   ✨ As a thank you, we’d like to offer you a £10 gift voucher to use in our online shop, just in time for some curious stocking fillers.   ✨ Thank you so much in advance!   Get started with testing here - https://bit.ly/3D8t9p5    (Please note the test turns off when maximum number of participants reached)

Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting the final day of #Communicate2024, 200+ environmental communicators from across the public, charity and private sectors gathered together to discuss trends, explore challenges and share skills and expertise. A feast of ideas and inspiration organised by our friends The Natural History Consortium, it was a delight to be able to serve our new climate conscious menus to this audience. As part of our pledge to environmental sustainability, and our aim to reduce carbon across all areas of our operations, we’ve appointed four local catering partners to our Venue Hire offering. Double Puc Cafe, Kate's Kitchen Catering Ltd, Picnic and Relish will all be serving climate conscious menus and working with local suppliers. Different ingredients have different levels of carbon, and so some menu options contribute more to climate change than others; the carbon conscious menus are based upon data* for the carbon associated with various ingredients. Some of us here had the privilege of attending the conference and hearing fascinating insights around public attitudes to climate change, the brave new world of AI, the role of empathy and storytelling...and sampling the new menu (vegan mezze platter highly recommended!).

📢 We’re hiring! We’re on the search for two new bods to join us – as Security Officer and Security Supervisor. You’ll be joining our 24/7 Estates Services team that looks after our 6-acre site – which includes the main We The Curious building, Anchor Square, Millennium Square and its car park. As a visitor-facing team, you’ll be helping with the day-to-day running of our site and systems, providing excellent customer service to visitors of our car park and open spaces and keeping everyone (humans and animals – some of you may remember a family of ducks 🦆 carefully being escorted from our green roof down to the harbourside – our team are very caring) on our site safe. If either of these sound like you, or someone that you know, then please do get in touch or share the link https://lnkd.in/d-6PPmz 📷: Lisa Whiting

Well this was a great way to kick off the week - yesterday our CEO Donna Speed MBA took part in this excellent panel discussion, all about communicating for good and campaigning for causes. Organised and chaired by Strike Communications Ltd, it was a really thought-provoking and energising discussion alongside some brilliant speakers, all passionate about creating waves for good; challenging and pushing where needed, being bold and communicating both to effect lasting change and create positive discourse. Thanks to those who joined us - and for anyone who missed it, the team from Strike will be sharing a recording from it in due course. A recommended watch!

“It’s their home too. They live here. They make their nests here. There’s the harbourside and really that’s where seagulls like to be.” What do you think about seagulls? We’ve had an interesting relationship with them over the past few years, to say the least, but how did a new seagull exhibit led by local primary school children end up on our venue floor? Over the past few years, we’ve been working with Hannah More Primary School – it all began someone complained that nesting seagulls on the roof were making a lot of noise. What followed was a series of workshops with our Special Projects Producer, working together to find out more about the birds, why they behave as they do and how people and wildlife live together in cities. It culminated in a vibrant mural by Bristol-based artist, Billy, in the school playground (we even had BBC Radio Bristol come down for the mural unveiling, speaking to some of the children, the headteacher and our Special Projects Producer) – working in some of things that we learned together. This project is part of our Open City Research pledge, an area of our work that aims to give everyone the opportunity to be part of the research process. We try to be led by the children’s ideas, choosing what to investigate together - with the final mural co-created between the children and Billy. Two exhibits showcasing this project now live in our venue; they show the journey of the project, along with a copy of the final mural, and a cabinet with three taxidermy gulls kindly loaned to us by Bristol Museum, Galleries and Archives. A big thank you to Hannah More Primary school for their enthusiasm, open minds and beautiful curiosity – we loved working with you on this. Come and see it for yourself if you come in, you’ll find it next to our Open City Lab space, and near our TARDIS. If you’d like to find out more about the project, read on below for more detail. https://lnkd.in/exGu8eGh Image credits: 1- Freia Turland, 2 - Jenny Hiley, 3 - Julian Welsh

Stronger Together – an exceptional forum! Well, that’s a wrap on the Ecsite - European network of science centres and museums Directors Forum, and what a thought-provoking and galvanising few days it’s been.     Last night we enjoyed a wonderful evening dinner in our ‘Project What If’ exhibition space (the first time it’s been used in this way), and we were delighted to be accompanied by the Lord Mayor of Bristol.   This morning we focussed on the need for urgent decarbonisation and climate action with Chris Dunford, our Director of Sustainability and Science, and explored how to build organisations and communities that both protect and replenish our world with Andres Roberts.     It's left us with a number of key signature actions to take away and progress, but the core highlight which came across clearly is all about being ‘Stronger Together’.    We’re in no doubt that in order to succeed and thrive we all need to be collaborating more and creating long-term, sustainable partnerships.   The event was closed by Bruno Maquart, President of Ecsite and Universcience, who said:   “The Forum this year has been an outstanding success. The care with which community relationships are approached and designed at We The Curious is absolutely remarkable and inspiring. Your commitment to society is particularly enlightening.   We’ve enjoyed a five-star welcome and a five star programme.   I’d like to personally thank Donna and her team for their exceptional work in hosting us."    #DF24 #EsciteMembers  📷: Paul Groom    

What a way to kick-start day one of the Escite Directors Forum.     Today over 75 Ecsite senior science centre leaders from across Europe and beyond attended the first day of the Forum - all about unlocking the power of collaborative partnerships.     There’s been a welcome introduction from President of Escite, Bruno Maquart along with We The Curious CEO, Donna Speed, a thought-provoking keynote speech from Amy Kington, and brilliant panel discussion and breakout groups with Stacy Yelland, Samir Savant, Savita Willmott and Nicole Briggs, all about ‘Community at the Core: The Power of Collaboration’.     Donna said, “I’m absolutely delighted to welcome many of the Ecsite Senior Leaders here today. It’s given me the chance to tell the story of We The Curious in our reopening year, where strong collaboration and community partnership has been critical. It’s no exaggeration to say that these collaborations have allowed us to survive, and now continue to support us into our future to help us to thrive.”    We rounded off the day with Executive Director of Ecsite, Catherine Franche who updated us on new Ecsite - European network of science centres and museums activities in 2025 and then enjoyed a hilarious and further thought-provoking session from Stuart Goldsmith (Climate Comedian). Charged up and ready to go, we’re looking forward to day two of the event tomorrow.   #DF24 #EsciteMembers 📷: Paul Groom

And we're off! The Escite Directors Forum is now underway, it's set to be a packed, engaging and galvanising two days - more to follow as we go. #DF24 #Escite

We're hiring for a People Administrator 📣 Are you passionate about people and ready to make a difference in a small but mighty team? We’re looking for a People Administrator to support our dynamic People team. This role is your chance to be at the heart of our charity’s journey, working with our staff, volunteers, and trustees. What you’ll do: From recruitment to retirement (and everything in between!), you’ll: ✨ Handle people-related queries. ✨ Coordinate key moments in the people journey. ✨ Support the delivery of our ambitious 5-year People Plan. ✨ Help shape and implement new initiatives, policies, and practices. Who we are: We’re a collaborative and ambitious team, including our People Director, People Belonging Manager, People Manager, Volunteer Programme Manager, and soon-to-be-you! You’ll be stepping in to cover for our People Coordinator during their New Parent Leave. If you're interested, click here for more info and to apply https://lnkd.in/ecP_Vvh7 Photo credit Freia Turland 📸

With just one week to go until the Escite Directors Forum on 21 & 22 Nov, we’re busy pulling together all of the final pieces for the two-day event. We’re really looking forward to hosting over 75 directors and CEOs from science centres across the world, where we’ll be exploring ‘the power of collaboration’, with some great keynote and guest speakers (including Stacy Yelland, Samir Savant, Savita Willmott, Amy Kington, Nicole Briggs, Andres Roberts Chris Dunford and Stuart Goldsmith (Climate Comedian) ), interactive sessions and valuable time to share knowledge and expertise from our sector. More to follow next week! #DF24