Scotland 365 delivered a wide range of activities, some of which were co-designed with young people. The project activities were designed to reach young people from each of four groups identified in the research (culture, connection, entertainment and inspiration seekers).

By listening to the voices of young people National Museums Scotland recognised the need to recruit a national youth engagement team to develop a relevant programme of work and test a range of different engagement methods.   

Working with one of our consortium partners, Young Scot, a team of dedicated young people signed up as volunteers and took on the task of exploring the needs of their peers by producing ideas and prototypes. 

Featured below is the Dedicated Visitor Experience project which was delivered by the young volunteers.

1. Explore

   Through desk research and exploration workshop sessions, a couple of key themes dominated early conversations and remained important to the group’s objectives throughout, ensuring that young people’s needs, and interests would be at the heart of an engaging visitor experience.

    

2. Accessibility

   Discussions here reflected on the development of an autism resource, enhanced signage and posters, and utilising opportunities for trails to align with accessible themes, i.e., disability month in November. However, the group wanted to be mindful about not isolating other groups by creating an experience that focuses on one accessibility need over another.

    

3. Fashion

   This theme engaged the full project group from the beginning. The group members spoke of the range of opportunities that existed here, from collaborating with young Scottish based designers to exploring how the body could become part of an immersive ‘exhibition. They also spoke about a Hidden History theme, relating to stories or voices that may have been excluded previously from traditional exhibition spaces, to explore multiculturalism through the lens of fashion.

Create

During this stage the young people met with key museum staff including the Principal Curator of Contemporary Design, which informed their approach and gave insights into considerations which lead to such design in the museum. The group settled on the fashion gallery as a key area for development to take forward. It supported the group’s intention to build an immersive, engaging, and accessible experience with a sense that fashion has instant relatability for the target audience.

During a residential weekend of workshops, the Youth Engagement Team designed a paper prototype designed to challenge perceptions of the museum through the lens of fashion and the body. This concept led to further testing and the creation of a brief, whereby the group commissioned a UX Designer to develop a digital prototype to bring their fashion gallery concept to life.

Disrupt

During the collaborating with the UX Designer, the team were presented with three concepts to choose from. After careful consideration ‘Regal Rebel’ a visual history of tartan, was selected as the most engaging concept for our inspiration seeker audience. Final adjustments were made, and the captivating digital prototype was delivered to the Youth Engagement Team.

Scotland 365 delivered a wide range of activities, some of which were co-designed with young people. The project activities were designed to reach young people from each of four groups identified in the research (culture, connection, entertainment and inspiration seekers).

By listening to the voices of young people we recognised the need to recruit a national youth engagement team to develop a relevant programme of work and test a range of different engagement methods.   

Working with one of our consortium partners, Young Scot, a team of dedicated young people signed up as volunteers and took on the task of exploring the needs of their peers by producing ideas and prototypes. 

Featured below is the Marketing Campaign project which was delivered by the young volunteers.

Explore

During this phase of the project, the focal point started to take shape. It was decided to develop a campaign to enhance and expose the variety of opportunities already on offer at the museum, which would allow for a focus on the marketing campaign itself and remove the need to rely on other events or activities. 

It was agreed that adding the expertise from an external marketing agency was essential to work towards a final output. The young people co-wrote a brief to be shared with the agency outlining the project aims and continued to work closely with the agency for the rest of the project, taking part in fortnightly meetings to work on campaign development and refinement.

Create

From sustained engagement with the marketing agency, the young people, in their role as ‘clients’, were able to communicate their vision and offer a continuous feedback loop. Three final concept ideas were pitched by the agency to the young people, based on the young people’s ideas and learnings from the process. 

The top priorities for the campaign were around capturing audience attention instantaneously, and ensuring there was an interactive element to draw people in.

Disrupt

The key motivation behind the chosen concept is to help young people to understand themselves and the world better through key exhibits and objects on display. ‘Find Your Thing’ encourages young people to visit the museum to discover stories from history that resonate with them, thereby creating an emotional and meaningful connection with their lives. 

The concept relies on social and cultural themes to promote the concept visually, ie, sustainability, gender identity and feminism.

The chosen promotion creatives included a series of visually striking posters which capture attention alongside a film featuring young people on their journey through the streets of Edinburgh towards the museum.

Disrupt

The key motivation behind the chosen concept is to help young people to understand themselves and the world better through key exhibits and objects on display. ‘Find Your Thing’ encourages young people to visit the museum to discover stories from history that resonate with them, thereby creating an emotional and meaningful connection with their lives. 

The concept relies on social and cultural themes to promote the concept visually, ie, sustainability, gender identity and feminism.

The chosen promotion creatives included a series of visually striking posters which capture attention alongside a film featuring young people on their journey through the streets of Edinburgh towards the museum.

Act

Throughout the process, the young people developed their knowledge and skills, honing insights and establishing an understanding of the wider context their project sits within. Through engagements with internal staff, external organisations and wider groups of young people insights have been strengthened to represent a range of views and needs. 

With this, the Marketing Campaigns team highlight some key reflections and priorities related to their project aim to consider moving forward.

By listening to the voices of young people National Museums Scotland recognised the need to recruit a national youth engagement team to develop a relevant programme of work and test a range of different engagement methods.   

Working with one of our consortium partners, Young Scot, a team of dedicated young people signed up as volunteers and took on the task of exploring the needs of their peers by producing ideas and prototypes. 

Featured below is the Meaningful Engagement project which was delivered by four young volunteers.

Explore

This project sub-group had initially been titled “Loyalty Schemes”, however, during the early Explore workshop sessions the young people realised through discussions and interrogation of the brief, that this didn’t fully communicate their aims. Therefore, a decision was taken to re-name the sub-group to Meaningful Engagement, to communicate the long-term ambitions of inspiring repeat engagement in a meaningful way.

Create

From undertaking research into other sector initiatives, the group started to highlight key challenges and opportunities in recognising best practice for youth engagement in the heritage sector. The group spoke widely about the potential to further engage culture seekers and to tap into the opportunity to allow young people to develop social networks, professional skills, and more tailored experiences, as well as tapping into social media to facilitate a continuous conversation.

Identifying key theme areas

During the Create phase the project group identified key themes to take forward, which formed the basis of future discussions and engagements. Theme areas identified:

1. Youth community

   Connecting to the project’s core objectives, creating a sense of community was top priority for the group. Encouraging a sense of ‘collectiveness’ with young people and an ability to get involved with programming opportunities.

    

2. Social space

   Aligning to the first area, the group wanted to highlight opportunity to tap into the fun and social aspects of the museum. If young people feel welcome and relaxed in the space, more regular engagement is likely to follow.

    

3. Career Development

   Development and progression opportunities felt like an essential element of a strategy for the project group, ensuring value is offered for the young people’s time and an ability to be recognised based on longer-term involvement.

    

4. Reach and Accessibility

   Ensuring that the museum offers a place that accommodates the needs of all young people was another top priority, the group wanted the museum to engage with a variety of different young people and through different formats; digital and in-person.

    

5. Institutional change

   The group were hopeful to implement a strategy that would nurture a sense of openness and learning, with a place for young people to get involved with topics that are important to them and for NMS to build youth voice into its core practices.

Disrupt

During the residential weekend, the project group started to develop case study formats which would represent each of the theme areas to showcase what’s been done well across the cultural and heritage sector and what learnings can be taken forward. 

Conducting case studies and interviews – Three groups were identified to conduct interviews with. Organisational staff and young people were engaged with from each of the following: 

• Dundee V&A 
• National Museum of Wales 
• Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) 

Outputs from the case studies provided the project group with an understanding of the opportunities that exist. In practice, these case studies reinforced the young people’s initial discussions and showcased how achievable they were, seeing similar ideas being actioned in organisations nationally and beyond.

Based on the case study outputs, the project group developed their youth manifesto. This manifesto promotes an opportunity for long-term engagement with young people, which is more than just a ‘youth club’, it’s mutually beneficial to both the museums and the youth collective- with the collective having access to exhibition space, control to decide themes of exhibitions and collaborated with staff. Skills like accessioning objects, co-curating and engaging with artists means the collective could be exposed to the realities of having an exhibition - with the museum reflecting the collective in key decision-making.

Act

Throughout the process, the young people developed their knowledge and skills, honing insights and establishing an understanding of the wider context their project sits within. Through engagements with internal staff, external organisations and wider groups of young people insights have been strengthened to represent a range of views and needs. 

With this, the Meaningful Engagement project group highlight some key reflections and priorities related to their project aim to consider moving forward.

By listening to the voices of young people National Museums Scotland recognised the need to recruit a national youth engagement team to develop a relevant programme of work and test a range of different engagement methods.   

Working with one of our consortium partners, Young Scot, a team of dedicated young people signed up as volunteers and took on the task of exploring the needs of their peers by producing ideas and prototypes. 

Featured below is the Organisational and Sector Development project which was delivered by five young volunteers.

Explore

During the early Explore stage, the group started to discuss the possibilities of understanding internal and external structures and where opportunities might arise. The group acknowledged the need to speak to a range of internal and external stakeholders and use evidence and data to understand current policies around youth engagement in the sector.

Create

The project group started to scope the current processes in place to identify what change was needed. Initial discussions captured a range of opportunities to engage with internal and external staff, and the question of where to focus efforts. 

To support with the organisational development element, an opportunity arose to collaborate with staff on a re-fresh of the Discoveries Gallery space. The group felt this aligned to the project aim, and a way to test out collaborative working through a tangible process.  

The aim for young people’s involvement was to take part in the interpretation process, embedding young people’s perspectives into object interpretation. 

Disrupt

After further discussion as a project group, and with some input from the wider team working on the Discoveries Gallery, the group decided to take forward Object 3, Jean Jenkins Musical Instruments. They decided on the Rabab due to its origins as a Pashtun folk instrument to its present-day status as the national instrument of Afghanistan, and the development of women and girls’ opportunities to play it.

Along with the story of Jean Jenkins herself, the group felt connected to the range of themes and strands the object represented, with a modern-day cultural significance, and that this significance would cross over to interest wider groups of young people.

During a face-to-face, interactive, full-day session, a draft object label was developed. Relying on creative tools such as storyboards to support development, and curatorial and exhibition staff’s expertise in the area, helped guide the group to develop a final draft text for interpretation.  

Considerations about the object label ranged from word count to structure and accuracy of information included. In terms of themes, the young people focused on a few different threads:  

• Instrument origins – It’s introduction to Afghani courts in the 19th Century and the Pashtun people, modern Pashtuns are found in Pakistan and Afghanistan  
• Cultural norms – The significance of women playing the Rabab – the acknowledgment of gender specific roles including musical instruments vs western ideas?  
• Contemporary musical influences – Rabab adapted and exported to become sarod in India  
• Jean Jenkins – A nod to the collector’s extensive travel  

The group chose to represent the object visually with a modern-day image of a young woman playing the Rabab at the Afghani National Institute of Music, representing a shift in cultural norms.  

Based on the above themes and considerations, young people drafted an object label which was then edited and finalised by the Curatorial and Exhibitions staff.

Act

Throughout the process, the young people developed their knowledge and skills, honing insights and establishing an understanding of the wider context their project sits within. Through engagements with internal staff, external organisations and wider groups of young people insights have been strengthened to represent a range of views and needs.

With this, the Organisational and Sector Development project group highlight some key reflections and priorities related to their project aim to consider moving forward.

A group of young people from Granton Youth participated in a 10-week photography project in partnership with Stills Centre for Photography based at the National Museums Collection Centre. Working together with curatorial colleagues and facilitated by Stills, the young people have learnt new photographic processes while exploring objects relating to Granton and the local area.

Project Overview

The National Museums Collection Centre Photography project was an opportunity to test how we might engage young people who live locally with the National Museums Collection Centre collections and work in collaboration with staff across the museum, including Science and Technology, Natural Sciences and Scottish History and Archaeology departments.  

The young people from Granton Youth equipped with the historic camera collection, learned both analogue and digital photography techniques from creating cyanotypes and photograms to manipulating their images using photo editing software. The group were introduced to the darkroom at Stills allowing their creative imagination to run wild. While exploring the stores in the National Museums Collection Centre, the young people captured details of a lighthouse mechanism, bottled mineral samples gathered from the Granton shoreline and encountered Gary the Rhino. Their photographs celebrate the diverse collections stored in Granton as well as telling stories rich in local heritage. 

The group have produced a range of fantastic creative outputs while participation in this National Heritage Lottery Fund  project and have expressed their enjoyment and skills developed along the way.

Granton Youth Group interview

The short video gives insight into why young people were keen to get involved, improved skills sets and their key takeaways from participation in the project.

Granton Youth Group display

Granton Youth produced many stunning images throughout the course of the project, the hardest part was selecting the final photographs to go on display. Young people took their time in carefully considering images that had a personal connection to them.  

The images taken by Granton Youth have been beautifully arranged in a booklet named ‘Granton Explorations’ produced in collaboration with Stills, National Museums Scotland staff and the young people.  

In addition, a selection of images are on display in The National Museums Collection Centre, showcasing some of the objects discovered by young people in the stores. As well as in the National Museum of Scotland, Learning Centre and soon to be in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, to be admired by many. 

We worked in partnership with Volunteering Matters to welcome two paid trainees who learned valuable skills and gained insight into how museums operate behind the scenes.

As part of our overall aim to engage 16–25 year olds in heritage and museums, Scotland 365 provided paid traineeships for two young people to gain practical experience and help improve their employment prospects. Working in partnership with Volunteering Matters (formally known as Project Scotland) enabled us to reach out to young people not in education, employment or training. 

At the end of 2021 National Museums Scotland welcomed two trainees; the first was a three-month traineeship across Science and Technology and Art and Design learning skills in photography, scanning formatting, filing and digitising records. The second was a five-month traineeship with the Natural Sciences department based at the National Museums Collection Centre, learning about the insect specimens in the collection and curatorial process and procedures.

Case Study: Xander

Xander heard about the traineeship whilst he was volunteering at Project Scotland during his gap year between school and university. He applied for the traineeship because he was interested in museums, he felt it would provide useful work experience and it was more interesting than his job as a waiter.

Xander worked with National Museums Scotland four days a week across different departments including Art and Design and Science and Technology – spending a day with each team. Xander attended departmental meetings, took minutes, scanned and categorised slides and items for exhibitions and photographed objects. His photography skills developed a great deal during his traineeship.

Xander said that the traineeship provided him with real, practical work experience that he could add to his CV and university applications. His softer skills have improved and he has learned how to work with highly skilled, professional people. He had never worked in an office before and he now knows that he enjoys the office environment. He learned a lot from working with different teams in terms of setting goals for the various projects. He developed his organisation skills and enjoyed making a plan of all the tasks he wanted to complete each day. He now has a better understanding of how museums work and how collections are curated, and he feels this will change his experience and appreciation of museums going forward.

During a recent visit to a museum in York, Xander felt he was able to appreciate the experience more as a result of what he learned during his traineeship. He appreciates the knowledge and skills that he has gained through the traineeship and he would like to do more internships like this when he goes to university. After university he would like to pursue a career in the public sector.

Case Study: Rummi

Rummi was looking for a part time job. She came across the traineeship opportunity through Project Scotland and it felt like a chance to try something new.

Rummi is interested in animals and zoology and the traineeship, which involved looking at the insect collection at the National Museums Collection Centre, aligned well with her interests. She was interested in learning how museums work, how collections are curated and learning things that would be useful when she goes to college.

Rummi’s traineeship involved her working two and a half days a week. During this time, she catalogued items. This involved exploring the archives and collections and recording detailed information about the objects on spreadsheets. This important work will enable people in the future to find specific items more easily. As well as the cataloguing, she did line drawings of insects in the collection. A highlight for her was seeing the insect specimens up close. She is hoping she gets the opportunity to learn some photography skills.

Rummi enjoyed her traineeship experience. She has enjoyed working with a small team of four people. For her it was important that she worked with a team of people she was comfortable with as this was only her second ever job. She has enjoyed the flexibility of the work – being able to work on days that suit her, and being to choose to work from home or at Granton.

Rummi now has a better understanding of how museums work. She feels she has broadened her knowledge of heritage in the city. She had visited one museum in the city before her traineeship, but she didn’t know about the National Museums Collections Centre at Granton – which is a specialist collections facility.

Participation in the traineeship has improved Rummi’s health and wellbeing. It has enabled her to be more independent and earn her own money. Her daily routine has improved, and she feels better about going out more regularly.

Rummi would like to continue to work with animals and plants, either on a paid or voluntary basis. In the future she would like to study science at college before going on to university to study zoology.

This photography project was an opportunity to test how we might engage with young people who are local to the National Museums Collection Centre.

Read more

The Scotland 365 featured five sub-groups of young people who each tackled a specific question.

We worked in partnership with Volunteering Matters (formally known as Project Scotland) to welcome two paid trainees who learned valuable skills and gained insight into how museums operate behind the scenes. 

A key question that arose from stakeholders across the S365 programme was ‘How we might foster a lifelong relationship in young people with heritage and museums?'

We worked with WAVEparticleto reach out to schools across the country to produce a report focused on the exploration of that question through the voice of over 160 school children, young people and teachers. A summary of a national survey and a set of recommendations for future schools and young people’s engagement in museums was also developed.

Find the full report containing the survey templates and creative tools implemented by WAVEparticle as a shared resource here.

We worked with Project Scotland to deliver bespoke staff training around youth engagement with heritage, exploring ways to engage them with our organisation, collections and activities. 

After a pause in activity due to Covid-19,we worked in partnership with Young Scot Hive (YS) to recruit our Youth Engagement Team participants.

We wanted to cast the net wide, to recruit up to 25 young people from across Scotland, with different experiences, cultures and communities.

This Youth Engagement Team went on to work with National Museums Scotland staff on a series of projects including improving visitor experiences, developing creative digital projects and collections, creating marketing campaigns and events, engaging with other organisations in the sector, and developing a Youth Engagement Strategy.

In 2019 a summer programme, running in Edinburgh, Glasgow, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, was delivered to amplify the creative voices of disadvantaged young people. Workshops ran across the month of July and culminated in an electrifying national showcase at the Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow.

This exciting summer programme of youth-led workshops offered free, safe creative spaces for young people to explore their creative potential while working alongside professional actors, digital and visual artists, musicians and performers.

Over the month young people from across the five residencies visited Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland at the National Museums of Scotland to get inspiration for their work.

A sharing event here at the National Museum of Scotland in July showcased an impressive range of high-quality visual arts, digital art, new theatre and live music all created by the young people on the programme. This included an 8 foot tall pheasant perusing the Highland landscape paintings and interacting with visitors in the exhibition!

"Thank you for the laughs, the ideas, the inspiration, and the motivation you gave me over the past few weeks. I really enjoyed myself. Thank you!" ('Jamie', participant)

As part of Scotland 365, National Museums Scotland ran two summer residencies and delivered a programme of workshops across different Local Authorities in partnership with Impact Arts across 2018 - 2020.

The Scotland 365 project was match funded by Cashback to Communities; a programme targeting young people experiencing disadvantage. This partnership has enabled the delivery and support of up to 520 young people to work intensely with an amazing team of artists, musicians and performers as part of free creative workshops.

The sessions delivered by Impact Arts focused on exploring different heritage themes through our collections and exhibitions, and giving participants the opportunity to creatively respond to what they discovered.

We had up to 167 young people attend a summer programme of activity delivered across four Local Authority areas including Edinburgh (based at National Museums Scotland), Glasgow (based at Kelvin College), Renfrewshire (based at the Tannahill Centre) and East Ayrshire (based at the YMCA Kilmarnock).

During the course of the programme the groups each had an opportunity to have free access to the acclaimed exhibition on Scottish pop music, Rip it Up for inspiration to develop their own creative responses to the some of the museum’s collections.

A showcase took place in July 2018 at Paisley Abbey where over 100 young people from across the country showcased their work to an invited audience of friends, family and guests. We also held an exhibition of the work at National Museums Scotland where staff could engage with the work developed by the groups.