Museums are facing the important challenge of becoming more sustainable. While we mainly tend to think of the concept in terms of environmental sustainability, it also encompasses economic sustainability and social sustainability. Essentially, sustainability is about the long-term role of museums, including their financial wellbeing, the wellbeing of the communities they serve, and the wellbeing of the planet.
Recently, we have seen many museums taking action on the climate crisis. For instance, many institutions have joined the Culture Declares Emergency (CDE) campaign. This includes National Museums Liverpool, the Natural History Museum and the Horniman Museum.
Several museums have also put in place new plans and policies, showing their commitment to becoming more environmentally sustainable.
Last year, the Natural History Museum in London held several events at COP26 in Glasgow. Elsewhere, Spain’s Prado Museum has implemented a new, more sustainable lighting system throughout. Meanwhile, many others, such as the Science Museum in London, have created new exhibitions to explore the topic of climate change.
We can see that becoming more sustainable is high on the agenda of most museums around the world. So, how can they achieve this, what are some key things to take into account, and are there any easy wins?
Making more sustainable museums
Museums do have a lot to consider, but becoming more sustainable does not have to be a huge project. There are many small but useful steps that they can take towards being more environmentally friendly in their daily operations, as well as their events, exhibitions and their messaging to visitors.
Much of this work could also bring financial benefits, therefore helping organisations to be more economically sustainable as well. In addition, there is a lot of cross-over between environmental sustainability and social sustainability.
1. Take stock and make a plan
Many museums have a sustainability plan or strategy in place, and this is the most sensible place to start. The goal of this document is to set out the museum’s goals and the steps it will take to get there. For some, this will form part of their overall strategic plan, while others have opted to publish a separate sustainability statement.
To start with, it might be useful to take stock of where the museum currently is, in terms of its sustainability. This will help it to determine where it is starting from, and what it could reasonably achieve.
One initial step could be to conduct an energy audit. Becoming more energy efficient is one of the ways that we can all make a difference and cut our carbon footprint. For large organisations, this can also be a great way to cut some unnecessary costs. An energy audit establishes an overview of the current situation. It can also help to identify the areas where implementing some changes could make the most difference.
Global goals
When making a plan, museums can refer to the United Nations Global Goals. This is a set of 17 commitments made by leaders from around the world, with the aim of ending extreme poverty, inequality, and climate change by 2030.
As the International Council of Museums (ICOM) says: “Museums are closely linked to some of the targets of the SDGs, notably around protecting and safeguarding cultural and natural heritage, supporting education for sustainable development, and supporting research and cultural participation.”
An organisation can choose to look at all of the goals. Or, it can focus on a few where it feels it can make the most impact. This will depend on the institution and its mission. But, for example, Global Goal 4 is around quality education. For museums, there are many possibilities when it comes to engaging with this goal.
Or, Global Goal 8 deals with work and economic growth. Here, museums can contribute by committing to paying a living wage and by offering permanent contracts. There are several other goals that museums are well placed to contribute to, from reducing inequality and promoting good health and wellbeing to contributing to research on climate change.
A clear plan
One example of a museum sustainability plan comes from the Museum of London.
This begins by making a commitment to put sustainability at the heart of everything the organisation does. It then follows this with a series of clear goals.
The plan sets out what the Museum of London intends to achieve over a defined period, under five headings:
- Include sustainabilty in conversations with its audiences, partners and staff
- Look regularly at operations to make them the best they can be
- Take care of resources and not be wasteful
- Find ways to improve how it manages buildings and cares for collections
- Realise its aspirations to become a greener museum through the new musuem project
2. Connect it to the mission
Sustainability can’t be viewed as something separate. It needs to become a core part of the organisation, connecting with its mission to serve its community. As the Museums Association’s Code of Ethics states, museums “enhance the quality of life of everyone, both today and in the future.”
For the Natural History Museum in London, connecting its sustainability goals to its museum seemed like a clear choice. As Doug Gurr, the museum’s director said at blooloop V-Expo 2021:
“If our subject matter is life on planet earth, and we know that that life is under threat, then it’s probably no longer enough to be what we’ve always been, which is collectors, cataloguers, chroniclers, researchers, exhibitors.”
The museum felt it could not simply be a passive observer of the biodiversity crisis. It responded by changing its mission, with a view to creating what it calls “advocates for the planet”.
Connecting sustainability to a museum’s mission means that the issue is front and centre, and is considered as a part of all its decisions. It also means that more people in the institution are thinking about and talking about sustainability.
3. Get all teams on board
As a continuation of this, it is important not to make sustainability the responsibility of just one person, or just one department. Yes, it can be useful to have a dedicated sustainability officer or sustainability working groups. But becoming more sustainable should be something that everyone at the museum is responsible for.
Museum staff are an essential resource. They have the skills, knowledge and passion to make an institution’s goals a reality. This also links in with the topic of economic sustainability. Museums need to develop their staff and volunteers. They must provide them with rewarding employment, where they feel needed and valued.
There are sustainability wins that can be achieved throughout the organisation, from retail and events to curatorial and operational. This is why it is key that all teams understand the mission and their part in it.
One example of this in action is Chicago’s Field Museum. Like the Natural History Museum, it has put sustainability at the heart of its mission, which is to “fuel a journey of discovery across time to enable solutions for a brighter future rich in nature and culture.”
At the Field Museum, its staff members have been a key part of the success of several initiatives to improve sustainability. This includes taking part in Bike to Work Week and creating a staff community garden.
A Greener Field
The Field Museum has a dedicated green team, which goes by the name of A Greener Field. This began as a grassroots project in 1989. Since then it has grown to encompass more than 40 members from across every area of the museum.
From bike-sharing programs to recycling and composting endeavours, A Greener Field helps integrate environmentalism, conservation, and sustainability across the board into the Museum’s operations.
“Staff members who share the Museum’s commitment to improving sustainability attend monthly meetings that provide an outlet for them to share successes and challenges in terms of greening their departments, as well as a vehicle to initiate and help implement institution-wide programs,” explains the Field Museum’s website.
“From bike-sharing programs to recycling and composting endeavours, A Greener Field helps integrate environmentalism, conservation, and sustainability across the board into the Museum’s operations.”
4. Find the easy wins for museums to be more sustainable
Not everything has to be a huge project. There are several easy wins that could make a difference, both in terms of the environmental impact and the financial impact.
One way museums can improve is to think about their temporary exhibitions and how they can cut the carbon footprint of these. Recently, the Science Museum, which has committed to becoming carbon zero by 2033, published some thoughts on how to make its temporary exhibitions more sustainable.
“From choosing sustainable and recyclable building materials to sending electronic launch invitations, as we work towards our target of Net Zero we are looking at every aspect of how we develop exhibitions to reduce emissions and work more sustainably,” says the museum’s blog post.
It also explains how it has reused exhibition materials: it has repurposed display equipment such as metal frames, as well as reusing AV equipment.
More sustainable museum shops
Museums can also consider the impact of their retail and food offerings if they want to become more sustainable. For instance, Event Network, a leading retail operator for experiential cultural attractions in the United States, works with clients to create more purposeful retail spaces.
“We prioritize sustainable suppliers for many of our products including apparel, plush and accessories that are made from recycled materials. We have found several meaningful alternatives to eliminate single-use plastic from our product assortments,” explains Event Network’s Amy Isenberg.
As well as looking at materials, the company, which operates gift shops at attractions such as Denver Zoo, Seattle Aquarium and the National Museum of the United States Army, also sources products from underrepresented groups. This helps to provide access to economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses.
“Women-owned businesses, businesses owned by people of colour, and LGBTQ-owned, as well as veteran-owned businesses, are great places to start sourcing products,” says Isenberg.
Simple changes
When it comes to operations, there are plenty of simple steps that can make a difference. Changing to LED lighting solutions, recycling or composting waste and using greener cleaning products can all have an impact.
Museums can also reduce the amount of paper used on site. For instance, they can offer a guest-facing app to aid navigation rather than offering paper maps. They can also ensure that they cut down on unnecessary printing across all departments.
5. Build relationships
Museums are not in this alone and can work together to share best practice and pool resources on how to become more sustainable. One example of this is the V&A Museum in London. After writing its own sustainability plan, the museum published some tips on its blog.
The museum released its sustainability plan in 2018. With three clear headings, Place, People and Programme, this sets out the actions that the V&A aims to take over the next three years. It is working towards a net-zero carbon target by 2035.
“The process of creating the plan itself was fascinating and in the spirit of sharing experiences, here are my tips for writing a museum sustainability plan,” says the V&A’s Sara Kassam on the blog.
In fact, one of Kassam’s own tips is to consult with other organisations. This shows the value of building relationships with other museums that are working towards the same goals. She talks about looking at examples of sustainability both inside and outside the museum sector. Plus, she also speaks about building connections across her own organisation:
“Museums contain an amazing collection of professions; the breadth and depth of expertise is mind-blowing. From the curators who helped me to articulate the vision, to colleagues in Finance and HR who assisted with really honing particular actions, the generosity of time and enthusiasm from all departments has helped to produce a solid plan.”
Toolkits for sustainability
There are several networks of museums working together to become more sustainable. Earlier this year, Manchester Museum launched its Carbon Literacy for Museums Toolkit. This has been developed as part of the ‘Roots & Branches’ project, in partnership with Museum Development North West (MDNW) and the Carbon Literacy Trust.
It aims to accelerate the museum sector‘s ability to respond to the climate crisis.
Roots & Branches will see around 1,500 museum staff and volunteers trained and certified as carbon literate. In addition, 300 museums will develop organisational pledges to take action against climate change.
Esme Ward, director of Manchester Museum and MDNW manager says:
“Through this unique collaboration with Museum Development North West and the Carbon Literacy Trust, this project will be pivotal in developing museum practice further, transforming our sector’s capacity to support ecological thinking and action to build a sustainable future and inspire post-pandemic green recovery.”
6. Eco architecture & sustainable museum refurbishment
There are many impressive examples of sustainable architecture in the museum world.
One such building is the California Academy of Sciences, a platinum LEED-certified museum that opened in 2008, designed by Renzo Piano. The building has several innovative sustainable features, most notably its 10,000-square metre living roof. This catches excess stormwater and also provides insulation to reduce energy consumption.
The 1.7 million plants on the roof transform carbon dioxide into oxygen. They also help to provide a habitat for birds, insects and more.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Museum of Tomorrow, which opened in 2015, features solar panels that move with the sun. It also has an air conditioning system that uses water from nearby Guanabara Bay. This is cleaned and then returned to its source.
See also: The world’s most sustainable museums
Becoming more sustainable doesn’t mean building new museums
While these are impressive projects, it is not always possible, or sustainable, to start a new building from scratch. Luckily, there are ways to make museums more sustainable through refurbishment projects too.
Amsterdam’s Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam originally dates back to 1683. However, the museum has been successful in reducing its energy consumption by adding modern insulation. It has also implemented better climate control systems. Plus, in 2016, it partnered with the Hortus Botanicus to share heat and cold surpluses.
As a result, the museum now saves 77,215 m3 of gas, 200,000 kWh of energy, 259,000 kilos of CO2, and 12,950 trees each year. The project won the Sustainable Heritage Award in 2016.
The Hermitage Museum also plans to install solar panels and replace its current glazing with a more energy-efficient alternative.
7. Talk about sustainability
As well as becoming more sustainable in themselves, museums can also have a positive impact by spreading the message of sustainability to their audiences. Museums have the ability to make meaningful connections with their communities.
Recently, there have been several exhibitions that explore the topic of climate change. This includes Rising Tide at the Museum of the City of New York, and Our Broken Planet: How We Got Here and Ways to Fix It at the Natural History Museum.
The V&A’s Kassam says:
“Museums are great at telling stories, how can we use our position and collections to engage audiences in meaningful conversations around sustainability? How do we explore and respond to their concerns and aspirations? Taking an intersectional approach understands the unique ways that oppression and discrimination manifest due to different part of one’s social identity.
“For example, simultaneous calls to decolonise and decarbonise speak to a growing demand for lasting systemic change to address the root causes of the climate crisis and realise climate justice.”
It is also important to note that museums need to build trust when trying to connect authentically with visitors around these topics. Ties with certain companies and sponsors, for instance, those in the fossil fuels industry, can damage this.
Museums can become more sustainable
While it can be a daunting task, every organisation has a duty to be as sustainable as it can. This will help to ensure the long term wellbeing of its community, its finances and the planet.
By beginning with some simple steps and centring their mission around sustainability, museums can future-proof their operations for years to come.
The upcoming greenloop 2022 event offers a unique chance to learn more about sustainability in the visitor attraction sector.
From 19 – 20 April, blooloop is hosting the second greenloop conference, an online event that explores sustainable initiatives from across the industry. Attendees will be able to hear expert speakers and find out about the latest trends and projects. They can also network and share best practice with colleagues.
