Royal Observatory | Greenwich Royal Museum

Royal Museums Greenwich comprises the Royal Observatory, Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum and the Queen's House. We are also home to Prince Philip's Maritime Collection and the Caird Library and Archives.

Together we work to enrich people's understanding of the oceans, space exploration and Britain's role in world history.

What we do: Our role in society

• Museums are places of collections, bringing together objects, historical information and memories. The collections at Royal Museums Greenwich are held in trust by the nation. Through our collections we connect the past with people in the present; they also help us think about and shape the future.

• We can help people understand why the world is the way it is, creating a shared sense of place, belonging and community, while also recognising and celebrating diversity and individuality.

• We strive to promote inclusion and equality, to be a place of opportunity, to support wellbeing and to encourage active citizenship. We want everyone to feel welcome and to see themselves at Royal Museums Greenwich.

• We share our expertise across multiple platforms, according to audience needs, and to listen to and promote the expertise of others.

• We care for a unique range of objects and buildings, and our collections are at the heart of what we do.

• We will strive to tell history more fully, acknowledge different perspectives, and work with stakeholders to be honest about the past.

Who we are: Royal Museums Greenwich

• We are a collection of different sites with distinct identities, overlapping interests and shared goals.
• We are explorers of time, space, place and belonging. Our collections and themes are about investigating the world, crossing borders, bridging cultures and making connections. We are a place that explores the essence of being human.
• Our collections span continents, cultural divides, turbulent oceans and cosmic space. Through our institution, we have a unique potential across disciplines - art, history and science - that we can address individually and in dialogue with each other.
• Our themes are local, global and global – they help us ask the big questions about the universe we live in, the planet we live on and its people.

Why we are here: our social purpose

• At the heart of Royal Museums Greenwich is a social purpose – to serve our communities and stakeholders, consistent with our function as a museum and heritage place.

• We want to be a progressive national museum – brave, bold, relevant, inclusive, collaborative, active, ethical, well-informed, expert. We will listen, learn, evaluate and consult, working together to be a place that works for our audiences.

• We will strive to tell history more fully, acknowledging different perspectives, and work with stakeholders to be honest about the past, give equal voice and acknowledge intersectional identities.

• We will support skills development, critical thinking, knowledge and understanding.

• Our key aims will be relevant and meaningful, both reaching out, inviting people in, welcoming all and supporting their wellbeing.

• We will have clear timelines and strategic plans. This will involve mapping out the journey in the following ways: Vision (1-5 years; clear sense of output); On the horizon (5-10 years; a range of possibilities); In imagination (10-15 years; wild thinking and experimentation). This will allow us to increase our impact and reputation, and attract funding.

Guiding Concepts

Interpreted through our collections and shared expertise, these are filters for potential activities (e.g. exhibitions, programmes, publications).

They will help us move from big ideas to specific stories and content, and provide coherence, efficiency, inspiration and connectivity.

Adversity, Adaptability and Habitability

Our watery planet is uniquely situated for the evolution of life. Originally from tropical Africa, humans have come to inhabit nearly every corner of the planet. In doing so, we have adapted to harsh climates and hostile physical environments – from scorching deserts to frozen tundra, dense jungles to open oceans – to explore, survive, adapt and thrive. Many great migrations—such as those across the Pacific—involved long sea voyages, posing unique challenges and requiring people to work with natural systems such as tides, currents, and wind. Ultimately, our adaptability took us to the ends of the earth and into space, where we searched for life and the possibility of human settlement elsewhere. But from the radioactive waste of orbital space to the barren surfaces of Mars and beyond, it seems that no place feels like home. Yet humanity’s drive for expansion and its relentless industrial-scale exploitation of the natural world comes at a cost. Environmental damage, pollution, and the climate crisis are direct results of this activity. Together, they are creating new and worsening disasters, including melting ice caps and rising sea levels, threatening the habitability of the planet and humanity’s future survival. Can humanity shift from expansion mode to living within environmentally sustainable limits?

Identity, Diversity, and Community

Our identities make us human. They shape us, forge and sustain communities at individual, local, national, and global levels, and bring us together and separate each of us. Communities of identity are inclusive and transcend gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation, life experience, and religious beliefs. They foster friendship, happiness, imagination, and a fundamental sense of belonging. Even as we gaze out into space, we strive for connection and meaning, asking ourselves are we alone? Our diversity also highlights inequality and difference. Barriers of bias and discrimination perpetuate privilege and disadvantage, creating fear, resentment, and entitlement. Too often our collections are shaped by those with the most power, making them one-sided, representing only particular perspectives, and diminishing the influence and contributions of many others. Yet by exploring, appreciating, and celebrating individual and collective diversity, we can foster greater equality, understanding, and accessibility, helping everyone find their place in our museums, our world, and the wider universe.

Creativity, Curiosity, and Ingenuity

Humans are uniquely curious and creative creatures. We explore, seek to understand, and respond imaginatively to the world around us, creating artwork that reflects and questions our humanity. We embrace the challenges of changing and new environments, finding creative solutions to problems through the application of science and technology.

For many, the sea and the sky represent two vast canvases of imaginative possibility, inspiring innovation in art and science alike. For artists and writers, depicting and describing the restless, translucent sea tests their skills and creativity. At the same time, overcoming the difficulties and dangers of sea travel requires ingenious practical solutions. Doing so has allowed us to reach all corners of the Earth, satisfying humanity’s instinctive thirst for knowledge and understanding. Our ingenuity has helped unlock some of the secrets of the night sky, fueling advances in navigation, timekeeping, astronomy, and space exploration. Yet, as scientists explore deeper into the seemingly limitless reaches of space, we increasingly question our place in the universe and the precariousness and preciousness of life on Earth.