The Design Museum

Design for a cleaner tomorrow

The next generation can be the strongest advocates for positive climate change – which is why we supported the Design Museum to create a Family Trail to accompany its Waste Age exhibition. With the help of our £8,000 grant, the Family Trail helps to make the exhibition accessible and inspiring for young people.

The Waste Age exhibition shines a light on zero waste design and prompts families to ask themselves: ‘What can we do?’. Opened to coincide with COP26 in Autumn 2021, it invites visitors to explore how designers are redefining fashion, construction, food, electronics, packaging and more, by designing out waste and creating a more circular economy.

  • Up to 60,000 people are expected to take part in the Waste Age Family Trail.
  • 40,000 students, families, life-long learners and entrepreneurs engage in Design Museum learning projects each year.
  • So far, 880 people have used the hashtag #EndTheWasteAge to post about their visit.

Exploring a zero-waste future

The Family Trail guides young people and their families around the exhibition, focusing on tactile and immersive elements of the show to create a fun, positive and exploratory journey.

Visitors can also enjoy a pre-visit podcast ‘What Can Our Family Do?’. The podcast gives an exciting overview of the exhibition, featuring exhibition advisors and curators and focusing on where the big changes need to be made. Podcast episodes are available on Spotify, Acast or wherever you get your podcasts. (Please note, links are to external sites and Kusuma has no responsibility for the content)

“Young people will be even more directly impacted by the spiralling problem the world has with waste. Therefore, it’s incredibly important that this exhibition is accessible to young people and that they feel supported and inspired by their exhibition visit. This family interpretation material allows us to speak directly to young people and their families and give them a guided experience before, during and after their visit.”

Josephine Chanter, Director of Audiences, The Design Museum

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