Real World Science

Real World Science is a UK-wide network of museums working together to bring natural history museums, research and collections to life. Through collaborative national programmes, we engage diverse audiences with the big questions facing science today.

Our work connects global issues on a local scale – linking collections and current research to schools and communities across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We create opportunities for communities, schools, family and young people to meet scientists, explore ideas, and even contribute to research through community science activities.

Our aims are to:

• Connect as many people as possible with natural history collections and nature-inspired activities

• Inspire local communities and schools to visit museums and engage with science

• Encourage further study in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and build scientific literacy

• Support the professional development of museum educators, raising the standard of science learning in museums nationwide

• Strengthen programming initiatives, extending reach and building capacity across the network

Current programmes

LEGO Group's Build the Change

We’ve teamed up with LEGO to offer free nature-focused educational activities for children at the Museum and with our national partners.

The programme invites children to use creativity and play to imagine solutions to human impacts on the planet! 

Since Summer 2024, thanks to our national partners, Build the Change is being delivered across the UK, continuing to inspire young people to connect with nature through play.

These programmes are running at: 

• Great North Museum: Hancock 
• Herbert Art Gallery & Museum
• Leeds Museums & Galleries
• National Museum Cardiff, Amgueddfa Cymru
• National Museums Northern Ireland
• Natural History Museum, Tring
• Nottingham Museums
• Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery 
• Reading Museum and The Museum of English Rural Life
• RSBP and Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow 
• Touchstones Rochdale 

The partnership between the Natural History Museum and the LEGO Group inspires children to learn about nature through play. We look to ignite their imagination by connecting them with nature, nurturing critical thinking skills and inspiring them to help protect our planet.

Museums for Nature

In 2026 we launched Museums for Nature, a programme partnering with museums across the UK to transform their sites, boost biodiversity, widen access to nature and engage local communities in nature recovery. The initiative, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, aims to support biodiversity and help address nature loss in communities nationwide.

Museums for Nature will support museums to map existing habitats and identify interventions to enhance biodiversity across their grounds, in collaboration with local communities.

From creating pollinator-friendly habitats, to digging ponds, or creating planting schemes that support climate resilience, museums will enhance biodiversity in their towns and cities.

The programme will see the Natural History Museum partner with eight organisations during a pilot year before a wider roll out across the museum sector in autumn 2027.

Pilot partners include:

• Natural History Museum, London and Tring
• Birmingham Museums Trust
• Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne
• The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry 
• National Museums NI
• Amgueddfa Cymru, Museum Wales
• Touchstones, Rochdale
• Wollaton Hall, Nottingham

Read our press release to learn more.

We'll be sharing insights and updates from the pilot programme towards the end of 2027. If you would like to be contacted, please fill out this form.

Contact us

To find out more about opportunities for families, schools or young people – or to be connected with your nearest Real World Science partner museum – email us at: [email protected]

Previous programmes

Examples of previous public programmes delivered by the network include:

Explore: Urban Nature

Between 2020 and 2024, this UK-wide project encouraged people to explore nature on their doorstep. By taking part, participants:

• Learned more about their local wildlife
• Contributed to real scientific research on human impacts on biodiversity
• Took positive, evidence-based actions to help nature in towns and cities, for the benefit of both people and planet

Read the Explore: Urban Nature report to learn more.

Dippy on Tour: A natural history adventure

From 2018-2021 the nation’s favourite Diplodocus travelled around the UK to seven of our RWS partners with support from the Garfield Weston Foundation. Everywhere the tour went, Dippy invited visitors on a natural history adventure to learn more about the nature in their part of the world. To hear stories and successes from the tour go to www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dippy

Careers for All

Young people with special educational needs and disabilities are often left out of careers programmes. It means they can be unaware of the value and importance of STEM and heritage careers, and the pathways to pursuing them.

This programme at Leeds Museums and Galleries, initiated through RWS with support from the Eranda Rothschild Foundation, developed a new approach to work experience for young people with special educational needs and disabilities to break down the barriers preventing these young people from considering STEM and heritage subjects and careers.

The Real World Science Leadership Initiative

This three year programme, supported by The Foyle Foundation, aimed to develop a new model of teacher training. Completed in 2020, it empowered teachers to shape lessons around students' questions, in close partnership with their local natural history museums.

It was led by Great North Museum, Newcastle, and was followed by a second iteration at the NHM in London. Teachers were trained in enquiry-based learning using objects, which enables children to explore scientific questioning behaviours and lead their own learning.

The learnings from this pilot informed our approach to teacher training delivered as part of Explore: Urban Nature.