Arts & Fashion
National Trust’s vision
National Trust marks 130th birthday with 10-year plan to address the climate and nature crises and improve access to nature.
11 January 2025
Main image: © Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
London’s Natural History Museum has announced the first new permanent gallery to open since 2016.
The gallery, Fixing Our Broken Planet, will open 03 April 2025; a new programme of events and activities will also launch this year, exploring the biggest challenges facing our planet and empowering people to make change.
The new gallery will bring together pioneering research from the Museum’s world-leading scientists with advice from environmentalists and young changemakers on how to better care for the planet and its future. It will be a definitive destination for those looking to explore the threats to our natural world whilst discovering where solutions can be found.
The first of the programme’s headline events will assemble a growing community passionate about speaking up for the planet.
Fixing Our Broken Planet: Generation Hope (29 April to 03 May) will include a series of free workshops, panels and talks created in collaboration with young climate leaders from across the world.
‘Our scientists have been working to find solutions for and from nature. Fixing Our Broken Planet places this research at the heart of the Museum, allowing us to offer visitors positive ways in which they can act for the planet.
‘By combining the inspiring science and advocacy found in the gallery with the voices of Generation Hope changemakers, we’re showing that we all have the power to make change.’
DR DOUG GURR
Natural History Museum Director
This unveiling is the first milestone for NHM150, the Museum’s plan to transform its South Kensington site from a catalogue of natural history to a catalyst for change ahead of the Museum’s 150th anniversary in 2031.
Visitors will be given practical, evidence-based choices they can take to combat the planetary emergency as our demand for food, materials and energy soars.
They will come face to face with over 250 specimens including a Sumatran rhinoceros, parasitic worms and whale’s earwax – each telling an important story about our fragile relationship with the natural world.
The specimens, research and suggested actions throughout the gallery emphasise how our own health is entangled with the health of every living thing.
Research on display shows how fungi is used to fertilise crops, how bacteria can be harnessed to extract copper from mine waste, how bison are helping to engineer forests in the UK to store more carbon and how vital DNA analysis on mosquitos is being used to fight mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria.
The Fixing Our Broken Planet gallery is in the original 1881 Waterhouse building and required full restoration.
The transformation revived its original Victorian features while using sustainable materials and methods to bring the space back into public use.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund (PBIF) awarded the Museum with significant funding to rebuild the gallery whilst retaining its heritage and charm.
‘To create effective lasting change for the planet we must inspire all generations. This new free permanent gallery, part funded by DCMS, will showcase research from the brilliant scientists at the Natural History Museum, helping to educate, challenge and entertain the public on the natural world while demonstrating how we can all make a difference.’
SIR CHRIS BRYANT
Arts Minister
The Museum secured a grant of £1.64m from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), part of UK Research and Innovation, to support the Fixing Our Broken Planet programme.
NERC-funded research, including winning entries from NERC’s annual Impact Awards, will be displayed within the gallery.
Wellcome has also committed a £1.25m sponsorship over the next five years to the ‘Our Health’ gallery space and other upcoming activities on climate change and its health impacts.
‘The Natural Environment Research Council is pleased to support the Natural History Museum’s new permanent gallery, ‘Fixing Our Broken Planet’, with a grant of £1.64m.
‘The innovative new gallery will enable visitors to understand the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet and how we can address them. It will highlight the incredible work of our scientists who are finding solutions for a sustainable future. We are delighted to be partnering on this project, which demonstrates how positive action and the strength of working together are the key to protecting our planet.’
PROFESSOR LOUISE HEATHWAITE
Executive Chair of the Natural Environment Research Council
A wide variety of trusts, foundations, companies and individuals are supporting the Fixing Our Broken Planet gallery and programme including Natural Environment Research Council, Wellcome, GSK and Ørsted.
Now in its third year, Fixing Our Broken Planet: Generation Hope, the Museum’s acclaimed annual youth climate programme, will return from Tuesday 29 April to Saturday 03 May 2025.
A free programme of educational and inspiring events, workshops and talks, Generation Hope has been created in partnership with leading educators, scientists and young climate advocates from across the globe. It aims to inspire a new generation of young, confident and globally conscious minds.
‘As we continue to face a multitude of threats to people and planet, we want to do all we can to ensure young people feel both informed about the issues and inspired and confident to tackle them. By convening a diverse range of voices and expertise in this programme, our goal is for Generation Hope to create a space where young people can truly engage and feel better equipped to take action for a more positive future.’
CAMILLA THAM
Head of international partnerships at the Natural History Museum and one of the organisers for Generation Hope
All sessions will be free to attend at the Museum, with select events also available online.
National Trust marks 130th birthday with 10-year plan to address the climate and nature crises and improve access to nature.
University of Brighton champions UK-India collaboration to tackle environmental, economic and social challenges.
This organisation is using multimedia content to foster human connection and create a positive global impact.
New book illuminates the hidden dangers in apparently easy solutions to climate problems.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Weekly ethical news, offers, comps and a free digital mag (quarterly) – what’s not to love?
