Public concern about the climate and ecological emergency has risen hugely in the past year, with activism driven by impacts not predicted to happen for 70 years.
The emergency changes everything: our ways of living will change beyond anyone’s control and museums will have to adapt to its impacts. This might include preparing and supporting communities through food shortages, mass migration and loss of habitat.
More positively, museums can help people to think about how the future might look and help them build a more sustainable world. This edition of Museum Practice explores three aspects of how museums might engage with their communities amid this rising tide of concern – and, quite literally, rising tides.
Simple steps
In July, the director of the Science Museum Group, Ian Blatchford, shared his museums’ sustainability achievements and policies.
While his openness was good, his justification for continuing to embrace fossil fuel sponsors was criticised.
He said: “I am sceptical about the argument that such sponsorships are greenwashing.”
This raises the question: is it enough to tell the public what we are doing, or must we radically change? The rise in activism and speed of climate impacts suggests that in the near future the majority of public will only accept radical change.
Future audiences may say it’s unethical to justify actions proven to be harmful, or relationships with those who persist in harming for profit. Being cautious about who to partner with will be the default ethical position, as organisations seek to avoid making decisions that might cause harm and start involving the public in that decision making.
To help with this challenge, museums need to shift from communicating policies to audiences, to collaborating with them.
Currently, we are in a transition phase in public expectations. Melanie Marsh, the property manager at Fishbourne Roman Palace in Chichester, West Sussex, says: “We are aware that visitors want a feelgood factor in their visit, so any message we send out needs to be a positive reflection of our environmental impact.”
This is one of several examples of inviting visitors in gentle ways to collaborate in caring for the environment.
At Fishbourne, chalkboards in the cafe allow the museum to quickly change messages about sustainability decisions.
Godalming Museum in Surrey has placed signs giving information on its energy use and waste recycling next to light switches and bins. And signs at the Lightbox in Woking remind visitors of the energy cost of lifts versus climbing the stairs – anyone taking the latter is rewarded with pleasing views and artwork.
Exhibiting impact
A next step to these actions could be informing public about the environmental costs and benefits of museum activities.
For example, you can explain why the climate in galleries is monitored, and how this relates to monitoring energy use.
The Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art has taken a collaborative approach to its exhibition-making, sourcing or producing materials locally through scrap schemes and local companies.
By calling for help and being transparent, museums can show that they are reducing their footprint and supporting the local economy.
In the making of the exhibition, Derby Museums transported items by hand rather than vehicles, measured its carbon footprint throughout and made all of this information clear in the show’s interpretation.
For World Oceans Day on 8 June, the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London replaced an aquarium display with floating plastic bags. Facts about plastic consumption were displayed on empty bottles. This was one of several actions the museum used to engage their audiences with the reasons behind their greening actions.
Policies and frameworks
Several museums are embedding their environmental policy across all aspects of their work, through operations, research, staff wellbeing and learning programmes.
For example, Norwich Castle Museum integrated its environmental policy and the Green Business Tourism Award criteria into its excellence in learning framework, so that ecological concerns are considered when developing any programme.
The Museums Environmental Framework, launched by sustainability charity Julie’s Bicycle in 2017 and developed with the Happy Museum project and others, aims to lead practice across several themes with each step progressively more public facing and with a greater impact.
It suggests that the more you involve people in your communication, the more impactful your actions will be.
While this is a useful guide, each organisation should develop an impact framework that works for them, so that everyone (board, staff, volunteers, community stakeholders) has ownership.
Impacts in a framework might cover:
Such an impact framework would mean that an environmental policy incorporates policies on learning, ethics, retail, technology, community relationships and so on.
A museum that sees the environment as everything that life on earth depends on puts it at the heart of everything it does.
The emergency changes everything: our ways of living will change beyond anyone’s control and museums will have to adapt to its impacts. This might include preparing and supporting communities through food shortages, mass migration and loss of habitat.
More positively, museums can help people to think about how the future might look and help them build a more sustainable world. This edition of Museum Practice explores three aspects of how museums might engage with their communities amid this rising tide of concern – and, quite literally, rising tides.
Simple steps
In July, the director of the Science Museum Group, Ian Blatchford, shared his museums’ sustainability achievements and policies.
While his openness was good, his justification for continuing to embrace fossil fuel sponsors was criticised.
He said: “I am sceptical about the argument that such sponsorships are greenwashing.”
This raises the question: is it enough to tell the public what we are doing, or must we radically change? The rise in activism and speed of climate impacts suggests that in the near future the majority of public will only accept radical change.
Future audiences may say it’s unethical to justify actions proven to be harmful, or relationships with those who persist in harming for profit. Being cautious about who to partner with will be the default ethical position, as organisations seek to avoid making decisions that might cause harm and start involving the public in that decision making.
To help with this challenge, museums need to shift from communicating policies to audiences, to collaborating with them.
Currently, we are in a transition phase in public expectations. Melanie Marsh, the property manager at Fishbourne Roman Palace in Chichester, West Sussex, says: “We are aware that visitors want a feelgood factor in their visit, so any message we send out needs to be a positive reflection of our environmental impact.”
This is one of several examples of inviting visitors in gentle ways to collaborate in caring for the environment.
At Fishbourne, chalkboards in the cafe allow the museum to quickly change messages about sustainability decisions.
Godalming Museum in Surrey has placed signs giving information on its energy use and waste recycling next to light switches and bins. And signs at the Lightbox in Woking remind visitors of the energy cost of lifts versus climbing the stairs – anyone taking the latter is rewarded with pleasing views and artwork.
Exhibiting impact
A next step to these actions could be informing public about the environmental costs and benefits of museum activities.
For example, you can explain why the climate in galleries is monitored, and how this relates to monitoring energy use.
The Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art has taken a collaborative approach to its exhibition-making, sourcing or producing materials locally through scrap schemes and local companies.
By calling for help and being transparent, museums can show that they are reducing their footprint and supporting the local economy.
Communicating this work can be done in creative ways. Derby Museums shone a light into its activities and energy use through a temporary exhibition titled Energetic that was at Pickford House from December 2017 to February 2018).
The exhibition showed photography, artworks and objects from Derby’s collections to highlight “the energy stories hidden inside everyday objects and actions”.
In the making of the exhibition, Derby Museums transported items by hand rather than vehicles, measured its carbon footprint throughout and made all of this information clear in the show’s interpretation.
For World Oceans Day on 8 June, the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London replaced an aquarium display with floating plastic bags. Facts about plastic consumption were displayed on empty bottles. This was one of several actions the museum used to engage their audiences with the reasons behind their greening actions.
Policies and frameworks
Several museums are embedding their environmental policy across all aspects of their work, through operations, research, staff wellbeing and learning programmes.
For example, Norwich Castle Museum integrated its environmental policy and the Green Business Tourism Award criteria into its excellence in learning framework, so that ecological concerns are considered when developing any programme.
The Museums Environmental Framework, launched by sustainability charity Julie’s Bicycle in 2017 and developed with the Happy Museum project and others, aims to lead practice across several themes with each step progressively more public facing and with a greater impact.
It suggests that the more you involve people in your communication, the more impactful your actions will be.
While this is a useful guide, each organisation should develop an impact framework that works for them, so that everyone (board, staff, volunteers, community stakeholders) has ownership.
Impacts in a framework might cover:
- All aspects of an ecological and carbon footprint.
- Political impacts such as reducing the power of fossil fuel industries.
- Educational outcomes for target visitors.
- Values, attitudinal changes and wellbeing for target visitors.
- Contributions to local “thrivability” and adaptation to climate impacts.
- Contributions to academic and professional knowledge.
Such an impact framework would mean that an environmental policy incorporates policies on learning, ethics, retail, technology, community relationships and so on.
A museum that sees the environment as everything that life on earth depends on puts it at the heart of everything it does.
Bridget McKenzie is the founder of the Climate Museum UK and one of the organisers of Culture Declares Emergency
