Creative digital innovator - People's History Museum: The national museum of democracy

The museum is seeking a creative partner to create a new, online digital resource.

Background

People’s History Museum (PHM) in Manchester is the national museum of democracy, telling the story of its development in Britain; past, present, and future. The museum provides opportunities for all people to learn about, be inspired by and get involved in ideas worth fighting for; ideas such as equality, social justice, co-operation, and a fair world for all.

Over the next four years PHM is working in partnership with the UK Parliament Education and Engagement Team and Nesta’s Amplified programme to deliver an ambitious new learning programme for young people. The Vital Voters programme will be grounded in the events of the last 200 years, using history and immersive technology to motivate and enable young people to be active citizens and provide them with essential information about contemporary democratic processes. Ultimately, the programme aims to engage young people – the next generation of voters – in the past and present fight for democracy, inspiring them to take action in the future.

The Vital Voters programme will offer young people the opportunity to explore democracy in order to:

Increase knowledge of local heritage
Increase knowledge of present democratic processes
Increase interest in civic and democratic participation
Increase the sense that young people’s voices, opinions and votes count

The brief:

The museum is seeking a creative partner to create a new, online digital resource that will sit within the wider Vital Voters programme. The resource will engage young people (Key Stage 2 & 3) with the history of democracy, link to the present and inspire action in the future.

This will be a co-curated project and the creative partner appointed will work with young people aged 12-19 years to develop the resource. The resource will:

Speak to the target audience; in ways that are accessible and engaging to them
Present democratic history and historic events in accessible and engaging ways
Facilitate the comparison and relevance of past and present political activities (e.g. campaigning, propaganda)
Develop the digital skills of the young people involved in the production of the resource

The museum does not have a defined vision of the final product and providers are encouraged to put forward innovative proposals for a feasible and immersive web based experience which may make use of social media and digital tools such as animation, film, and gaming.

The project will benefit from engagement with the museum’s public audience and networks and exposure with investment partners. The provider must also work closely with both the wider PHM team and external website developer to ensure the content is suitable for the museum’s WordPress website, and in line with our commitment to accessibility.

The museum aims to engage 1,000 young people by the end of 2020 and 30,000 by the end of 2022 with the Vital Voters programme in schools and museums. The longer term ambition for Vital Voters, beyond its initial development, is for the programme to be expanded and scalable at a national level; offering learning experiences and opportunities for young people and a range of teaching resources for schools and education providers.

Key project deadlines:

Submission closing date: Monday 11 November 2019 at 5.00pm

Interviews: Monday 18 November 2019

Digital resource ready to test: late January 2020

Handover document provided to PHM to ensure the resource can be managed and maintained in a sustainable way: end of March 2020

Budget available: £7,500 + VAT

For enquiries relating to this opportunity please contact Petra Wilcockson, Vital Voters Project Manager on petra.wilcockson@phm.org.uk or 0161 838 9190.

To apply

If you would like to apply, please submit a concise written proposal with the following information to charlie.corkin@phm.org.uk by 5.00pm on Monday 11 November 2019:

Credentials for the provider and all the people who will have input into the work
Details of previous work undertaken; demonstrating appropriate and relevant experience
A methodology of how you propose to meet the requirements of the brief
An understanding of digital possibilities and opportunities, and how the resource can be sustainably managed, maintained and scaled over time
An indication of how you would deliver the project and key dates for tasks
A costing breakdown which demonstrates value for money