Meet We The Curious. Leading the charge to tackle climate change

We The Curious Team

Choosing our 100% renewable electricity is just one of the ways We The Curious is limiting its impact on the environment, but the organisation is going to great lengths to help tackle our growing climate problem.

Earlier this year, the science centre was the first of its kind to declare a climate emergency, with our government announcing that the UK would be introducing a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 only a week later.

It seems the world is waking up to the realities of climate change, and in Bristol, the discussion has been picking up pace with the launch of the council’s One City plan that looks to make Bristol’s operations carbon neutral by 2030.

Working together towards a sustainable Bristol

Both Bristol Energy and We The Curious have been key players in the discussions surrounding these changes and are leading by example in their own day to day practices.

As an educational charity, we are in a position of responsibility, and it’s up to us to reflect what people both want to, and need to learn about [climate change and the environment] in both our exhibitions and our commercial operations.

We look at things like our use of energy and water, the things we buy, the waste we produce, the travel we undertake as an organisation and how we bring nature on site. And because we’re a science centre, we can try and use some new technologies and approaches along the way.

- Chris Dunford, Head of Sustainable Futures, We The Curious

More than just energy purchase 

We The Curious purchase 100% renewable electricity from Bristol Energy as part of their drive to be as sustainable as possible, but the partnership between our two businesses is more than just power supply.

I think the values of both businesses have real synergy, which is incredibly important to us as an educational charity. We both have societal objectives. It’s also about sustainable futures, which is one of our key pledges, so that’s where Bristol Energy and We The Curious really come together.

- Donna Speed, Chief Operating Officer, We The Curious

This year, the centre’s programming activities are focused around environment and climate change, which has helped propel the discussion into the mainstream.

The interactive spaces at We The Curious mean children and adults have a forum to grasp bigger and potentially more challenging scientific concepts through play and experimentation.

Getting visitors thinking about climate change

Donna added:

Whether you’re doing something in our Kitchen or Tinkering Space exhibitions, or playing around in the Live Lab area, you’re doing an activity that links to these big environmental issues.  

We’ve extended it outside the building as well, so we have a climate change mural on the front of the building and the energy tree on Millennium Square; whether you’re coming into the building or just walking past there’s something to engage people with these big environmental issues. It gets people thinking.

It’s an exciting time to be in Bristol, with lots of organisations around the city coming together to make it fit for the future.

Donna also had this to say about forging links in the community:

Bristol’s developing a reputation for being a green city where sustainability is really at the forefront. Through the Bristol Green Capital Partnership, we’re all linking up to create a network around sustainability, which allows us to share our learnings with other cities.

By connecting up the local energy supplier with the science centre, with the council and universities, you develop a cross link that’s really powerful. You learn from each other and become bigger than the sum of your parts. If you’ve got a shared vision of a sustainable city, then you’re going to get there a lot quicker and in a better way for everyone.

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