Exploring new forms of exchange and dialogue
The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin is undergoing its comprehensive process of the Museum Evolution: alongside building works and the cataloguing and development of its collection, it is working on innovative, new forms of exchange, participation and dialogue between science, society, politics and business. The blueprint for this aspect of its evolution is the museum’s Future Plan, with the relevant measures set out in the ‘Knowledge Transfer’ sub-project. The aim is to inspire people’s enthusiasm for nature, to learn alongside them, to engage with its own history as an institution, and, as an internationally recognised scientific and cultural beacon for nature, to stimulate debates on the future of the planet.
To this end, the museum is evolving into an open, vibrant place of learning – a place where research becomes transparent to all, where people engage in dialogue with one another, and where knowledge about nature is created collectively. Therefore, the museum’s collection, research and questions about the future are to be made so accessible that everyone can experience, understand and help shape them.
The transfer of knowledge forms the foundation for this: it creates the necessary structures, formats and spaces required to facilitate and strengthen dialogue between science, politics, art, society and individuals.
Examples from museum practice
Two projects carried out in 2025 are intended to serve as examples of the museum’s knowledge-transfer activities: firstly, the research and education project on urban nature in Berlin, ‘Understanding Diversity’, which combines research, environmental education, engagement, participation and an understanding of nature. Secondly, the article ‘Public Collections and Co-Curation’ describes the museum’s new exhibition concept, using the example of two galleries newly curated in 2025, which document the implementation of the guidelines outlined above in a truly exemplary manner.