Aim

To help fund the largest science festival in the South West celebrating the unique geography and palaeontology of the Jurassic Coast -UNESCO

The festival is now in its 14th year and will continue to celebrate the rich diversity of geology and palaeontology that is completely unique to the Jurassic Coast. The festival will bring together world renowned scientists and experts to help educate and strengthen our community whilst reinvigorating community cohesion.

We plan to host a three day festival, one of which will be exclusively for school children; the rest of the weekend will be for the local community and visitors from all over the country. We will provide entertaining and thought-provoking presentations and activities that educate and engage all age groups in understanding why studying the past helps us learn about the future. This year our theme is 'Climate change - Back to the Future'. This means thinking globally and acting locally. We live at a time when our understanding of the natural worlds past and present, is vitally important as we face the impact of accelerating climate and environmental change. The Lyme Regis Fossil and Earth Science Festival will tell the stories of evolution, extinction and rapid dramatic change in the past, offering insights into how we can play our part in securing a sustainable future. It will show why Lyme Regis is known as the 'birthplace of palaeontology' and how geologists, geographers and environmental scientists are able to assess climate and environmental change in the past, present and future through observation of the rocks, landforms and processes which give the Jurassic Coast its UNESCO “World Heritage Site” status. Our schools' day will introduce our local children to some of the world's top scientists in their field, educating them not only in the earth and environmental sciences but also about careers and choices they may make in the world of science, climate change, sustainability and community resilience.

The weekend will consist of live presentations, talks, walks, hands-on science booths and a 360 degree cinema experiences on aspects of earth and environmental science delivered in a fun and engaging manner using, science, technology, art and performance in a totally inclusive way for all ages from 5 to 95. We will build on our existing Jurassic Coast resource bank of teaching materials that are accessible on our website (www.earthsciencefestival.co.uk) to an international audience. We attract the cream of the palaeontological and geological community to the festival, including the Natural History Museum, the Palaeontological Association, the Oxford Museum of Natural History, the Universities of Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and Nottingham to name but a few. Their exciting and fascinating pitches and talks are true inspiration to all visitors to the festival. New discoveries in the world of Earth Sciences are being made all the time due to new technology and thinking. The physical festival and supporting website are a perfect way to showcase these discoveries, whilst highlighting the rich and utterly unique geology of the Jurassic Coast, which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Lyme Regis and neighbouring Charmouth are centrally placed in the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage site. The site spans 185 million years of geological history, coastal erosion having exposed an almost continuous sequence of rock formation covering the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. At different times, this area has been desert, shallow tropical sea and marsh, and the fossilised remains of the various creatures that lived here have been preserved in the rocks. 71 different rock strata have been identified at Lyme Regis, each with its own species of ammonite. The legendary fossil collector Mary Anning lived here and her major discoveries of marine reptiles and other fossils were made at a time when the study of palaeontology was just starting to develop. Her discoveries were some of the most significant geological finds of all time. They provided evidence that was central to the development of new ideas about the history of the Earth. Lyme Bay is a mecca for fossil collectors and geologists from all over the world. The unique diversity of geology, palaeontology and coastal erosion in the area makes it a living science lab.

This project successfully funded on 7th December 2021