Bio:

John’s career has followed the path set by World Expos – from the Science Museum in London to Dubai in the UAE. The first five years of John’s career were at the Science Museum in London where he held a variety of roles covering both live programming, audience research and exhibition development. In 2006 he moved to one of the largest independent, fee-charging museums in the UK – London Transport Museum.

Here he helped relaunch the museum following a major refit and led the learning department and crafted the forward plan for exhibitions. Since 2011 John has lived in the Arabian Peninsula, moving first to Qatar to work for Qatar Museum Authority in the development of a new Children’s Museum. In 2017 John moved to Dubai to take a role developing all aspects of the Sustainability Pavilion – which will be a world leading science centre with over 6000m2 of exhibition space.

Abstract:

Sustainable in Every Way – Creating a Robust Science  Center for Expo 2020

Expo 2020 will reveal a new kind of science center in the form of the Sustainability Pavilion. Over six months and 25 million visits, Expo visitors will be asked to step into the story of our relationship with the world and invited to become a character in the tale, making choices that will alter the ending.

The Sustainability Pavilion will have two lives; firstly as one of the key attractions in Expo 2020, and subsequently as a permanent attraction competing for visitors amongst a huge diversity of high quality experiences in the UAE. This session will outline the approaches that Expo 2020 is taking to maximize the chances of a successful future as an inspiring, engaging, and vibrant 21st century science center.