Natural History Museum Launches an Audio Guide to Their New Nature Discovery and Evolution Gardens
Season 2, Episode 664, Aug 09, 09:00 AM
As part of the Natural History Museum’s Urban Nature Project, responding to
the urgent need to monitor and record changes to UK urban nature and support its recovery the five acres of green space that wrap around the Museum’s much loved building in South Kensington, London have been transformed in to the recently opened Nature Discovery and Evolution Gardens.
On Tuesday 6 August 2024 the Natural History Museum launched a recorded audio guide to their new Nature Discovery and Evolution Gardens bringing the gardens to life for everyone including blind and partially sighted people. The audio guide also includes a number of poems created by young visually impaired people that came out of a series of workshops lead by Rapper and Poet Testament.
RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey was there at the audio guide launch event at the Natural History Museum to not only experience the new gardens through the recorded audio guide but also to chat with some of the people who worked on the guide too.
Prior to the launch event Toby chatted with Harriet Fink, Learning and Volunteering Programme Manager at the Natural History Museum to find out a bit more about the transformation of the site into the two new gardens and how the workshops with the young visually impaired people lead by Testament had gone.
During the launch event Toby got the chance to chat with Anna, Precious and Eliza, three of the young people who took part in the workshop lead by Testament about their well crafted and written poems that feature in the guide which help to bring the themes and nature of the gardens to life for everyone.
Then to chatting with Rapper and Poet Testament to find out how the workshops with the young visually impaired people had gone and the process that they all went through in the workshops to create the poems that feature in the guide and how important spoken word and poetry can be for communicating subjects like those featured in the gardens to everyone.
Finally at the launch event Toby caught up with Professor Hannah Thompson from Royal Holloway, University of London who is partially blind to find out more about her role as Specialist Advisor for the audio guide ensuring that the gardens were accessible for blind and partially sighted people and making a truly inclusive audio guide for everyone.
You might like to share the experience of exploring the new Evolution and Nature Discovery gardens through the audio guide with a sighted friend or family member who might also be able to help with navigating the five-acre gardens too.
To find out more about the audio guide to the Natural History Museum’s new Nature Discovery and Evolution Gardens along with how to contact their Access Team do visit the following pages of their website - https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/galleries-and-museum-map/our-gardens/audio-guides-and-transcripts.html
Image shows Toby with recording equipment in hand and headphones on, stood in front of the Natural History Museum with retired guide dog Willow in front of Fern, the bronze diplodocus, in the new Nature discovery and Evolution Gardens.
the urgent need to monitor and record changes to UK urban nature and support its recovery the five acres of green space that wrap around the Museum’s much loved building in South Kensington, London have been transformed in to the recently opened Nature Discovery and Evolution Gardens.
On Tuesday 6 August 2024 the Natural History Museum launched a recorded audio guide to their new Nature Discovery and Evolution Gardens bringing the gardens to life for everyone including blind and partially sighted people. The audio guide also includes a number of poems created by young visually impaired people that came out of a series of workshops lead by Rapper and Poet Testament.
RNIB Connect Radio’s Toby Davey was there at the audio guide launch event at the Natural History Museum to not only experience the new gardens through the recorded audio guide but also to chat with some of the people who worked on the guide too.
Prior to the launch event Toby chatted with Harriet Fink, Learning and Volunteering Programme Manager at the Natural History Museum to find out a bit more about the transformation of the site into the two new gardens and how the workshops with the young visually impaired people lead by Testament had gone.
During the launch event Toby got the chance to chat with Anna, Precious and Eliza, three of the young people who took part in the workshop lead by Testament about their well crafted and written poems that feature in the guide which help to bring the themes and nature of the gardens to life for everyone.
Then to chatting with Rapper and Poet Testament to find out how the workshops with the young visually impaired people had gone and the process that they all went through in the workshops to create the poems that feature in the guide and how important spoken word and poetry can be for communicating subjects like those featured in the gardens to everyone.
Finally at the launch event Toby caught up with Professor Hannah Thompson from Royal Holloway, University of London who is partially blind to find out more about her role as Specialist Advisor for the audio guide ensuring that the gardens were accessible for blind and partially sighted people and making a truly inclusive audio guide for everyone.
You might like to share the experience of exploring the new Evolution and Nature Discovery gardens through the audio guide with a sighted friend or family member who might also be able to help with navigating the five-acre gardens too.
To find out more about the audio guide to the Natural History Museum’s new Nature Discovery and Evolution Gardens along with how to contact their Access Team do visit the following pages of their website - https://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/galleries-and-museum-map/our-gardens/audio-guides-and-transcripts.html
Image shows Toby with recording equipment in hand and headphones on, stood in front of the Natural History Museum with retired guide dog Willow in front of Fern, the bronze diplodocus, in the new Nature discovery and Evolution Gardens.