AN OPEN day has been held at the National Science and Media Museum as part of a new research project to see how it can play a bigger role in the Bradford district. 

Bradford’s National Museum is a research project that will look to cement the museum’s place as one of Bradford’s most important assets.

BCB Radio and the University of Leeds, recognised for its specialist research in the field of museum studies, are partnering the project and recording the ideas and responses in various ways.

Today's open day marked the launchof the project and members of the team have been speaking to a range of people who are creating, involved with, or who are interested in Bradford's cultural life. 

The focus of the project will be on potential opportunities which could benefit from the museum’s experience and resources around the science and culture of image and sound technologies.

Helen Graham, from the University of Leeds, said: "We've been asking two questions - what's exciting people about Bradford at the moment, what gets them coming into the city centre, what are they involved in.

"The second question being what new ideas can the museum use to connect into that.

"People have been really interested in how the museum can play a role in city centre regeneration generally, how the museum can draw people in to use the city centre

"Other people have been saying it's really important for the museum to reach out and connect into lots of different local places within the district generally."

Some of the ideas put forward included connecting science and poetry, linked up work with local museums, digital volunteering, even more activities for children, plus more space for community groups to share. 

Director Jo Quinton-Tulloch said: "It's the first step, we will be doing more of these so we want to spread the word.

"What has been great is that people have been leaving contact details so we can continue these conversations.

"This isn't just a one off day, this is the beginning of what we hope is a really strong relationship what we want to build with the people of the city."

She added: "We want to hear from people so what we do next comes from them and not from us."

The project will run for three years and the museum says it wants to ensure its own long-term ambitions for the years ahead are aligned with the city.

As well as the open day, people will also be able to get involved through a website and Twitter.