About the entry

This was the premise of the "Deep Time" project. The University of Edinburgh partnered with the world-famous Edinburgh International Festival to use the expertise of its own academics to tell the story of one of Edinburgh's most fascinating figures from the past - James Hutton, the father of modern geology. Hutton's theory of "deep time" shattered conventional thinking that the Earth was thousands, rather than millions of years old. But the story wasn't told in a lecture theatre - it was told against the backdrop of an ancient castle which was turned into a giant rugged canvas for a series of multimedia, digitally animated sounds and projections, charting 350 million years of history in 17 minutes to an awestruck audience of 27,000. 

From the Judges' Report

An innovative and interactive campaign, the University of Edinburgh partnered with the world-famous Edinburgh International Festival. The university leveraged the festival to engage the community through related events. The collaborative program appealed to faculty, staff, students, alumni and the general public.