Activities you can do

‘Earth’ by Luke Jerram

‘Earth’ is a touring artwork by Bristol-based artist Luke Jerram and commissioned in partnership with NERC, Bluedot Festival and the UK Association for Science & Discovery Centres.

The 7-metre diameter sculpture is covered in breathtaking imagery of Earth’s surface and reflects the wonder of looking back on our planet from space. ‘Earth’ can be presented in a number of ways, both indoors and outdoors. Whether you see it in a park, museum or science centre, you will be amazed by its awe-inspiring presence.

For more information and exhibition schedule, see the Gaia website.

To book ‘Earth’ for your event, contact:

Email: luke@lukejerram.com

Operation Earth

Operation Earth is a national programme run in partnership with the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC), which engages children and their families with environmental science using hands-on activities, experiments, public shows and meet-the-expert sessions.

Having inspired over 600,000 children and adults since the start of the programme in 2018. This has been delivered in partnership with 16 science centres and museums across the UK.

Find out more about the three phases of the programme including full reports on the ASDC website.

You can borrow the brilliant hands-on kit from NERC, which includes engaging experiments for families on a range of environmental science topics, including:

Earthy, our planet Earth costume character with its very own ice cap
biodiversity activities, including indoor citizen science (biodiversity mat), origami plant pot, and pollinators demonstration with dressing up kit
air quality activities, including a demonstration and air quality sensor
ocean activities, including a plastics demonstration and ocean acidification experiment
microscopy activity with microscope and slides
Earth observation image activity
branded graphics, including a banner and tablecloth.

Please note priority is given to the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funded researchers (and those who support them) and staff from a NERC research centre to borrow the kit.

Apply to Operation Earth by filling in the online form.

Find out more about the programme on the Operation Earth website.

View the summary infographics of phases one to 2.5.

AccessLabs

AccessLabs are a way for researchers to build new relationships and help those working in their local community access and use scientific research. NERC worked with non-profit organisations the British Science Association and FoAM to launch AccessLab, running three workshops held in:

Penzance for the marine sector
Exeter for journalists and the media
Plymouth for policymakers.

If you would like to develop a similar event you can read the comprehensive ‘how to run an AccessLab’ guide.

Eco-anxiety

NERC has launched an interactive platform, HoldThis.Space, in collaboration with:

The platform helps young adults to understand and process their feelings related to climate change, such as eco-anxiety, grief or guilt.

The platform uses insights from environmental science to help young people build evidence-based scenarios of a more hopeful, sustainable future. It prompts audiences to think about how they can take action to make a difference.

HoldThis.Space has been co-designed with a team of:

psychologists
environmental scientists
communications specialists
policy experts
climate activists
young people.

Read the report to learn more about the HoldThis.Space project.

More information

NERC funded public engagement resources related to climate change can be found on the Climate Hub.

If you are interested in specific public engagement activities that researchers can get involved in, you can find out more from these organisations:

Last updated: 23 June 2022