An Introduction to the Eco-Museum of Scottish Mining Landscapes

The Eco-Museum of Scottish Mining Landscapes, a national lottery funded project, was launched in April 2024.

This virtual museum explores the rich but often hidden local landscape legacies of coal mining across the Scottish midland coalfield, from Ayrshire to Fife, through a series of cycling and walking routes (landscape journeys) created by local communities commemorating their industrial history and heritage and celebrating their sense of place and identity.

Our virtual shelves currently hold over 40 landscape journeys (with another 30 at various stages of production ready to be added) and over 40 blogs. All our content is community curated.

We were the first industrial Eco-Museum set up in Scotland and are the largest Eco-Museum geographically in the UK. Our landscape journeys, originally designed as self-guided walks, are being used across Scotland as trigger points for other community-led projects as well as becoming an invaluable free heritage resource which has an international appeal.

Our Breaking Barriers project not only extends our geographical reach but has been designed to reach new audiences and community curators: families, schools and those with cognitive or mobility issues. Turning post industrial landscapes into places for family fun and using landscape journeys for armchair walking and reminiscence.

If you would like to find out how your community can get involved, learn more about our Breaking Barriers Project, find out about Coalscape Events, or are curious to discover what an Eco-museum actually is - this webinar has been designed for you.

Join Catherine (Project Lead and Founder) and Aileen (Community Engagement) at one of our free January webinars.

There will be a 45-minute presentation and then an optional Q & A session. The webinar will take place via teams.