Cultural Olympiad: Young people to engage with museums

Visiting London's museums may not be a priority in the social life of the city's teenagers.

But a programme, which is part of the Cultural Olympiad, is trying to change that by engaging with young people about how a museum is run.

Stories of the World is one of the biggest youth engagement projects ever undertaken by museums in the UK.

It aims to encourage more young Londoners to visit the capital's museums.

In London, the campaign involves 23 of the city's museums across 17 boroughs.

As part of the programme, the Museum of London set up a youth panel, called Junction.

One of the original members, Richelle Quinto, who joined in February 2010, said: "We're there to help the museum listen to the voices of young people.

"We've been involved in many aspects of museum life from events planning to using social media as a new way for people to interact with museums.

"I'm passionate about social media and it's become a key way for museums to reach young people."

Over the past 12 months, hundreds of young people aged 14 to 24 have been helping museums deliver exhibitions and events.

It is hoped more than 1,000 young Londoners will be involved in the project before the Olympics begin.

Ruth Mackenzie, director of Cultural Olympiad, said: "The young people are giving great new ideas to our museums, which is an important legacy for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad."

The skills that the young people develop in marketing, design, public speaking and photography will culminate in four major exhibitions about London's history as a world city.

The exhibitions will be held at the Museum of London, Horniman Museum, London Transport Museum and Geffrye Museum in 2012.