Scoping Darwin

In 2007, we worked in partnership with River Path Associates, to scope the British Council’s global activities for Charles Darwin’s 2009 bicentenary.

Darwin is one of history’s most influential and far-reaching scientists. The 200th anniversary of his birth gained enormous attention internationally and Darwin’s legacy was widely debated in a large number of public fora.

The British Council was committed to planning a major global project to contribute to, and enhance, the impact of the birthday celebrations. We were asked to undertake a project identification and scoping study to advise the Council on a strategic direction and potential activities which could be used by British Council  offices internationally, (and which would also align with the Council’s priority themes).

A further aim of the study was to conduct a stakeholder consultation and to harmonise the wide variety of Darwin-themed activities taking place in 2009. With this in mind we held a workshop to bring external stakeholders together to produce a synchronised raft of potential activities that could be used to engage people with Darwin’s work and its relevance in contemporary society.

The British Council later approached us to develop resources and activities to support their interantional, touring exhibition: Darwin Now.