How to think like an ancestor

Part museum tour of the Great North Museum: Hancock and part participatory workshop at the Farrell Centre, we will look for the roots of our current predicaments, before imagining futures worth longing for and our pathway to them.

This workshop is designed to allow you to take a step back from day-to-day delivery to look at the bigger picture. If you wish to explore what your and your organisation’s roles are in these urgent times, then this is the workshop for you. If you need reenergising in your own climate work, then this is the workshop for you too.

About Justine Boussard FRSA:

Justine is a curator and storyteller with over 15 years’ experience working in the heritage and public art sectors. She founded the Amateur Ancestor Project in 2020 to explore the role of museum collections in addressing the climate crisis from a cultural perspective. Through her programmes, participants from all sectors and walks of life get to expand their sense of time, reflect on how worldviews shape the way we live, think beyond silos, and rediscover their sense of agency. The Amateur Ancestor project has been supported by the Arts Council, Creative UK and the Natural History Museum. It features in Rob Hopkin’s latest book How To Fall in Love With The Future, in the chapter: ‘Learning from the Pioneers’.

Happily relocated in the North East since 2023, she has worked extensively with North East Museums and Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens amongst others. She is a member of Climate Museum UK and as of 2025, a fellow of the RSA.

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