Q&A | ‘Appealing to the love of future generations is the most powerful incentive for action’

This week, the Horniman Museum & Gardens in south-east London revealed early details of its ambitious Nature + Love redevelopment project, which will be unveiled next year to coincide with the museum's 125th anniversary.

Museums Journal, which is also celebrating its 125th birthday in 2026, spoke to Kirsten Walker, director of collections care and estates at the Horniman, to find out about what's in store.

Can you tell us a little more about the Nature + Love project?

Nature + Love is the Horniman’s major transformational redevelopment project to enable the Horniman to be more inclusive and help future generations to better protect and celebrate the natural world.

It will build on people’s love of the Horniman, nature, their children and future generations.

Nature + Love resulted from the Horniman’s 2019 framework plan which identified the need to redisplay our natural history collections and make better use of our some of our underutilised external spaces.

This coincided with the onset of Covid-19 and the resulting increase in desire for people to be outside and enjoying nature. We identified a need and desire to improve the visitor experience for new and existing audiences, create new indoor and outdoor experiences and positively engage with the natural world.

We are very grateful to funders who have made the Nature + Love project possible, including the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund (PBIF), the Wolfson Foundation, Oak Foundation, Kusuma Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation, and the Foyle Foundation.

What differences can visitors expect to see at the museum next year?

Nature + Love has three elements: two new visitor attractions in previously under-used areas of our Gardens, and the re-display of our historic Natural History Gallery.

• Kusuma Nature Play is a new nature-themed play area and family-friendly cafe encouraging learning and wellbeing through exploration and play. This area will also include a new entrance and ramp for easier access to the Horniman Nature Trail, as well as better interpretation along the Nature Trail.
• A new Gardens Nursery, which will have a workshop space for community and learning programmes, and a Community Garden to enable us to deliver social prescription projects for the local community.
• And in early 2027 a refurbished and redisplayed natural history gallery will open, exploring our understanding of and impact upon the planet, and supporting people to make changes on a local and personal level. An adjoining interactive and fun space will help under 5s learn about local wildlife.

What inspired the name of the project?

At the heart of Nature + Love is the desire to use our visitors’ love for their friends, family, future generations and of the Horniman, to generate a greater love and understanding of nature and our planet.

Research shows that appealing to the love of future generations is the most powerful incentive for action in the face of climate anxiety or feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of the challenges we all face. Supporting and furthering this connection between people and nature, and what we can all do to make a difference, underpins the plans within the Nature + Love project.

How does this work fit in with the museum's wider climate and ecology strategy?

Nature + Love places environmental sustainability and a commitment to tackling the climate emergency at the heart of both the infrastructure of the new spaces and the interpretation. We want audiences to feel a sense of advocacy when considering these issues, not to be overwhelmed by the challenge, and this is very much at the heart of our climate and ecology approach.

The new spaces also move us towards our net zero target through new technology including air source heat pumps and rainwater harvesting in the Gardens Nursery, to a new Building Management System supporting our gallery environment.  

Did the project present any challenges?

Initial designs have been updated, not only to accommodate budget constraints and ensure best value for money but also to respond to feedback.

On a practical level for example, the area of the gardens where the new play area and café are located can be prone to flooding, due to the sloping ground. With this in mind, we have designed a series of soakaways and sustainable drainage to capture rainwater.

How has Nature + Love changed the museum's relationships with local communities?

Work on the Nature + Love project has strengthened and broadened our relationships with the local community.

The outdoor designs and play structures have been shaped through consultation with local audiences, for example we consulted with families from local housing estates – representative of the new audience we are hoping to bring to the Horniman through the project – on the play area.

While the new spaces are being built, we are building relationships through outreach with local families and young people from diverse backgrounds to develop a connection to nature and enhance their green spaces. One project has supported young people to transform their outdoor space into a community garden, getting involved in everything from building garden furniture to planting, harvesting and cooking fruit and vegetables. They have developed practical and life skills, learned to cook home-grown food, and gained confidence and mental wellbeing.

We intend these relationships to continue beyond the Nature + Love project, running sessions to welcome community participants to the new spaces. Co-production is a key element of the project’s Activity Plan, ensuring that our local communities are represented and visible in the new spaces and programming. A social prescription offer for local adults experiencing loneliness and mental ill health was co-developed with participants, along with co-produced wellbeing labels around the Gardens.

The children’s interactive gallery space was coproduced by families with under-5s from local community groups. Key Stage 3 students and teachers have co-developed a new outdoor field studies skills session. And the new natural history gallery will feature content co-produced by local primary and secondary school students, as well as Tibetan and Caribbean community members.

It's the Horniman's 125th anniversary next year - do you have anything special planned?

Yes, we do! The Horniman will be 125 years old on 29 June 2026 and we will be kicking off a year of celebrations in the spring. The anniversary will celebrate the completion of Nature + Love, showcase the Horniman’s sector leading work and explore how we might transform in the next 125 years. We’ll be making further announcements in the coming months, but a date for the diary is a celebratory long weekend between 27 and 29 June