Creating a high-quality exhibition with a group, whether it’s a patient group or school children, is a challenge in many ways but it also has the potential to engage audiences on a whole new level.

In 2012 the Science Museum in London, UK, launched an ambitious and innovative new project. Our team worked with a group of adults and a group of young people to shape a new contemporary science exhibition, Pain Less: the future of relief.

Using the research conducted and the advocacy applied from the Pain Less project we will explore the challenge of balancing the various motivations that each participating group and internal stakeholders or consulted experts bring to such a multi-layered project. What opportunities and inventiveness can this lend to the way we work and how are the benefits experienced by museum audiences?

We invite participants to share our experience of co-creation through this interactive workshop.

During the session we will use examples from Pain Less to illustrate a whistle-stop tour of collaboration in developing exhibitions and explore 5 real-life challenges to participatory projects through the varied perspectives of:

• expert networks and participating groups (the few) • content developers/curators (the internals) • the audience who will see the final project (the many)

Through role-playing and dialogue, the session will guide the delegate through the challenges, pitfalls, milestones and learning points we have come across along the way.

At the end of the session delegates will understand different agendas, aspirations, motivations and points of view. They will produce a step-by-step action plan that takes into account the aims and objectives of their science centre or museum to help make their own dreams of co-creation a reality.