20,000 signatures reached
To: Ian Blatchford, The Science Museum Group
Keep the science museum’s children’s galleries free!
The children's "Launchpad gallery" at the Science museum should be free, and should not be sponsored by an oil company.
Please reverse your decision to start charging an entrance fee and drop Statoil as a sponsor.
Please reverse your decision to start charging an entrance fee and drop Statoil as a sponsor.
Why is this important?
It is vital to make sure children from all backgrounds are inspired by to do science and that scientific education remains reflective of the scientific consensus and not what is in the interests of the sponsors.
As big fans of science education, we are deeply saddened to hear that the popular Launch Pad gallery is to be relaunched not just with sponsorship from an oil company, but an entrance charge too.
As research at King’s College and the Wellcome Trust emphasise, the British public are keen consumers of our amazing scientific culture, but also there are worrying divides in terms of which economic groups are most likely to engage. Price tags on science museum galleries will only exacerbate such social division.
In addition to the entrance charge, it is totally inappropriate for this new gallery to be sponsored by an oil and gas company. It is a corruption of science to see our energies captured by fossil fuel companies and especially galling to see such sponsorship of a gallery aimed at children - it is their futures and qualties of life we risk ruining after all.
We have particular concerns when it comes to the London Science Museum. As freedom of information requests by Art Not Oil have shown, previous sponsorship deals have shown the museum seriously pressurised by oil companies, compromising their scientific and cultural credibility.
As big fans of science education, we are deeply saddened to hear that the popular Launch Pad gallery is to be relaunched not just with sponsorship from an oil company, but an entrance charge too.
As research at King’s College and the Wellcome Trust emphasise, the British public are keen consumers of our amazing scientific culture, but also there are worrying divides in terms of which economic groups are most likely to engage. Price tags on science museum galleries will only exacerbate such social division.
In addition to the entrance charge, it is totally inappropriate for this new gallery to be sponsored by an oil and gas company. It is a corruption of science to see our energies captured by fossil fuel companies and especially galling to see such sponsorship of a gallery aimed at children - it is their futures and qualties of life we risk ruining after all.
We have particular concerns when it comes to the London Science Museum. As freedom of information requests by Art Not Oil have shown, previous sponsorship deals have shown the museum seriously pressurised by oil companies, compromising their scientific and cultural credibility.
