Felicia and Floris travel to Bishop Auckland for a workshop with the Auckland Project

On the 4th of February 2026, Felicia and Floris headed down to county Durham for a workshop. Despite the weather being characteristically British, we arrived early and were able to enjoy a cup of tea in a local tearoom before we met with Alanna from the Auckland Project.

Following our earlier meetings with the Auckland Project we had set up a day to introduce our project and brainstorm ideas for our partnership with a group of people from a variety of sections, such as curation, education, and volunteering. The aim was therefore to combine all this experience to design mutually beneficial and actionable activities in the future.

The day was split in roughly two parts. In the first half, Felicia and Floris gave talks on tea and mining respectively. These were designed to introduce people to the aims of our project and to highlight ways in which we can weave global history into everyday things and experiences.

After these presentations we split up in teams and brainstormed potential activities and events. We were delighted at the enthusiasm of those who participated. Everyone at the workshop brought with them their own areas of expertise which allowed us to design a number of activities to move the partnership forward. This also allowed us to think about designing activities at different scales in order to work with the museum resources. It is always invaluable to work closely with our partners to take full advantage of their experience and expertise.

Auckland Palace

The participants indicated that the workshop allowed them to see some parts of the collection in different ways and felt that highlighting the global character of the collections would be an important addition for visitors.

It is always a joy to be able to visit Bishop Auckland with its wonderful museums. Our partners at the Auckland project are fantastic to work with and we look forward to our continued partnership.