Tullie has been shortlisted for the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Award in the category of Best Youth Project – Climate.

Charity Kids in Museums has run a prestigious annual award since 2004, recognising the most family-friendly heritage sites in the UK. From late March to early June, families and museums across the UK could vote for their favourite heritage attraction on the Kids in Museums website.

A panel of museum experts then whittled down hundreds of nominations to a shortlist of 18 heritage attractions.

This year, a brand-new category, Best Youth Project – Climate, was introduced to recognise innovative and thoughtful projects engaging young people on the topic of climate emergency and sustainability. It was open to museum applications only.

Tullie is vying against two other museums in the Best Youth Project – Climate category for the Once Upon A Planet project.

Sarah Forster, Learning & Engagement Manager at Tullie, said: “We are over the moon to have been shortlisted for this award. We are so proud of the amazing contribution our young people make to everything we do. The Once Upon A Planet project was a huge undertaking and what the young people achieved was truly inspirational.”

Once Upon A Planet is a two-year project funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund (administered by the Museums Association). It is Tullie’s biggest co-curated project to date, working with a group of Young Advisors to use the museum’s collections to provoke conversation, reflection, and action on climate change resulting in a major exhibition in the summer of 2022.

The project has been a catalyst for change for the museum, developing new ways of thinking about climate change, sustainability and co-curation, and embedding our environmental action plan in across elements of the museum’s activity.

Over the summer, the team at Tullie will present their work to an expert panel. The panel will decide the winners to be announced at an awards ceremony in October.

Meanwhile the museums shortlisted in the other award categories will be visited by undercover family judges. Their experiences will decide a winner for each award category and an overall winner of the Family Friendly Museum Award 2023.

Follow the Family Friendly Museum Award on social media by following @kidsinmuseums and #FamilyFriendlyMuseum.

The Family Friendly Museum Award has been made possible by funding from Arts Council England.

About the Family Friendly Museum Award

Kids in Museums began the Family Friendly Museum Award in 2004 to recognise heritage sites that are the most welcoming, fun and accessible for families.

Previous winners of the Family Friendly Museum Award include the National Emergency Services Museum in Sheffield (2022), Bailiffgate Museum & Gallery in Alnwick (2021), Andrew Carnegie Birthplace Museum in Dunfermline (2019), Leeds City Museum (2018) and the People’s History Museum in Manchester (2017).

The full list of museums shortlisted for the Family Friendly Museum Award 2023 is:

Best Large Museum

• Horniman Museum and Gardens, London
• National Maritime Museum, London
• Museum of Liverpool

Best Medium Museum

• The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge, Canterbury
• Compton Verney, Warwickshire
• Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle upon Tyne
• The MAC, Belfast

Best Small Museum

• Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea
• National Civil War Centre, Newark
• Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro
• Valence House, Dagenham
• Wolverhampton Art Gallery

Best Accessible Museum

• Cannon Hall Museum, Park and Gardens, Barnsley
• Craven Museum/ Skipton Town Hall
• Maidstone Museum

Best Youth Project – Climate

This new category recognises innovative and thoughtful projects engaging young people on the topic of the climate emergency and sustainability. It was open to museum applications only and will be judged by an expert panel.

• Falmouth Art Gallery – Splanna
• London Transport Museum – Green Skills Hackathon
• Tullie – Once Upon A Planet