It was celebration time for our Young Design Panel recently as they reached the mid-point of our child-centred science and nature partnerships project. Together with their families, special guests and artist, Milly Rolle, the children looked back on what they’ve discovered over the past four months at a fun-filled evening event at Winchester Science Centre.
The children proudly celebrated and reflected on their work as they took to the stage in The Planetarium. They were keen to share the moments they’ve enjoyed so far such as the unexpected excitement of doing soil DNA sampling with global nature intelligence provider Nature Metrics, discovering how far our food travels with food security expert Dr Jenny Baverstock from University of Southampton and learning how to design exhibits like those at the Science Centre with the creative team from exhibition design studio HKD.
Taking on the role of event planners, the Young Design Panel even planned and organised the event themselves! Alongside their science knowledge, the children have been developing an interest in using art to express themselves and explore the natural world. They therefore decided to turn the first-floor exhibition space into a gallery, featuring an array of the children’s artwork from their own nature portraits to coffee filters that look like petri dishes.
Young Design Panel member, Lois, aged 11 said about being part of the project: “I think it's helped me understand more about science. I thought science was just about the planets up in the sky but [this project helped me to realise] there's so much soil underneath our feet, and in the world, that we live on every day. I'm really happy to be a part of this project and I’m loving it so far.”
Lois’ mum added: “It’s a really nice environment where they’re encouraged to just explore and nobody is judging them, actually celebrating that free-thinking and that’s great.”
Artist Milly said: “The key is that we’re learning together and we’re finding things out together. I think that empowered [the children] quite a lot because they’re quite interested in the idea that they don’t have to prove to me that they were really good at art.”
The child-centred science and nature partnerships project aims to bring together children, artists, scientists and industry experts to use the natural sciences to gain a deeper understanding of the world around us. Throughout the project, we've gained first-hand experience of co-working with children and seen the valuable contribution and perspective they bring. We’re excited to continue working with the Young Design Panel and our partners to develop our learnings into science experiences for schools and families to enjoy at our Science Centre and through our community programmes.
