Welsh museum joins project to raise awareness of climate emergency

A Welsh museum has joined a UK-wide initiative designed to inspire communities to take action on climate change.

Ceredigion Museum is one of just 12 museums, heritage and cultural organisations selected to take part in a major new programme led by London’s Natural History Museum.

The Aberystwyth-based museum will take part in the Fixing Our Broken Planet: Interconnected programme, which provides funding, resources and direct access to scientists to help local organisations work with their communities on climate awareness and action.

The initiative is designed to empower people across the UK to better understand the planetary emergency and to feel hopeful about shaping a more sustainable future.

As part of the project, Ceredigion Museum will work with a group of young people from the Dyfi region to create a short film exploring the Dyfi Estuary.

The film will focus on what young people value about the estuary, alongside their concerns, fears and hopes for its future as the climate changes. By centring youth voices, the project aims to highlight how climate change is already affecting places that matter deeply to local communities.

The finished film will be displayed in the museum’s Archaeology Gallery, where it will sit alongside interpretation examining how human habitation in Ceredigion has always been shaped by changing climates and the movement of plants, animals and people over time.

The film will also form part of the Changing Tides coastal adaptation handbook for the Dyfi Estuary, a project being developed in collaboration with local residents.

Carrie Canham, curator of Ceredigion Museum, said the funding created an important opportunity to work directly with young people on climate issues close to home.

She said the project would help ensure young voices are heard at a time when decisions about climate adaptation will have long-lasting impacts on their futures.

‘Amplify stories’

Tom Bevan, head of national programmes at the Natural History Museum, said the initiative was designed to amplify stories from different parts of the country. He said communities interact with nature in different ways, and the programme would help turn those local perspectives into meaningful action for people and the planet.

Ceredigion County Council’s cabinet member for culture, Catrin M S Davies, welcomed the project, describing the film as a valuable addition to the museum’s galleries and a powerful way to reflect local connections to the River Dyfi and its surrounding landscapes.

The programme forms part of the Natural History Museum’s wider Fixing Our Broken Planet initiative, which includes the opening of a new permanent gallery in April 2025.

Over the coming years, the scheme aims to support more than 200 organisations in building a global movement for climate awareness and advocacy.

The Changing Tides project is funded through the Nature Networks Programme and is being delivered by the Heritage Fund on behalf of the Welsh Government.