The Museum of Zoology is home to an internationally important
collection of animal specimens from across the globe, and
receives about 170,000 visitors to the public galleries every
year.
However, we are very aware that our collections are
behind glass, and inaccessible to blind and partially sighted
audiences. The Museum has recently been in receipt of a grant
from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation to work on making the
insect collection more accessible, but we want to make sure the
resources produced are the best they can be.
We are therefore looking for blind and partially sighted individuals to help develop tactile resources for engagement with insects and the natural world.
collection of animal specimens from across the globe, and
receives about 170,000 visitors to the public galleries every
year.
However, we are very aware that our collections are
behind glass, and inaccessible to blind and partially sighted
audiences. The Museum has recently been in receipt of a grant
from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation to work on making the
insect collection more accessible, but we want to make sure the
resources produced are the best they can be.
We are therefore looking for blind and partially sighted individuals to help develop tactile resources for engagement with insects and the natural world.
About the programme
This innovative programme invites 5 blind or partially sighted individuals to form a working group in partnership with the University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge (UMZC) and the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN).
They will help guide the production of larger-than-life insect models, being developed using new 3D scanning and printing technology.
These models will form a permanent resource used by both the UMZC and WTBCN to be available for blind and partially sighted visitors. The models will also feature in a temporary exhibition at the UMZC.
The programme will include six workshops over the course of a year, one approximately every two months, but the dates and times of these sessions will be flexible and we would welcome feedback on participant availability.
During the workshops, the insect models will be developed and improved based on group feedback.
Participant guidance will directly feed into the construction of the resources to make them as useful as possible for their intended target audience.
A guide capturing the key learnings from this co-creation process will be compiled and shared with other museums and wildlife charities, enabling similar resources to be developed elsewhere.
How to contact us
If you would like to find out more please email: umzc@zoo.cam.ac.uk
Large scale model of a Great Diving Beetle
What is the Re-imagining Insects Project?
Re-imagining Insects is a partnership between the University Museum of Zoology in Cambridge (UMZC) and the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN). Using new 3D scanning and printing technology, the project aims to increase engagement with insects, an extremely important group of animals that can sometimes be overlooked due to their small size.
The small and fragile nature of insect specimens can make engagement particularly hard for audiences with special access requirements, such as blind and partially sighted people.
This project gives us the capacity to produce larger-than-life tactile insect models, and it is hoped that this is a new route for audiences to engage with our insect collections. It will also give museum researchers the opportunity to work with target audiences to learn more about the specimens they study.
We would like your help in developing and refining resources to make them as widely accessible as possible. Insects are also very sensitive to environmental change and can act as bioindicators for the state of the natural world. This idea will be used to create a temporary museum exhibition, linking the insect models to the climate and biodiversity crises, which are causing large changes across the planet.
This exhibition will be co-created with young people, to provide a platform to highlight future-facing concerns and stories.
What would your role be?
You will join a group of 5 blind and partially sighted people and meet approximately every two months for workshops over the course of a year. The dates and times of these sessions will be flexible and we would welcome feedback on participant availability. Sessions will be around 2 hours in length, and include refreshments. Further details of each session will be provided in advance.
During these workshops, you will help assess and provide reflective feedback on 3D printed models of insect specimens from the Museum of Zoology. This process will help refine the models and associated resources so that new versions can be developed for each session; aiming for the final versions to be as useful as possible as engagement tools.
These specimen models will form part of a temporary exhibition in summer 2027, being co-created by young people on themes of the climate and biodiversity crises. It is hoped that the models will help make this exhibition accessible to blind and partially sighted audiences, and your contributions to this end would be invaluable in making this happen.
The models will then be included as permanent engagement resources to be used by the UMZC and WTBCN after the exhibition.
What's in it for you?
All travel expenses to and from the workshop venues will be paid for.
You will also be renumerated £50 for each session you attend, in exchange for your time, expertise and consultation.
Light refreshments will be provided at each workshop session.
You will have VIP access to the museum exhibition opening event, before it opens to the general public.
You will directly contribute to making more resources available for blind and partially sighted people when visiting a local museum and wildlife charity.
For more information please email: umzc@zoo.cam.ac.uk
Great Diving Beetle
