Four Museums Paving the Way in Environmental Sustainability.
Over the past two months I’ve had the pleasure to learn about museums in relation to environmental sustainability as part of my master’s programme. In light of Cop26 and my own investigations into museums I’ve created a short list of four institutions who are promoting sustainability through exhibitions and new ways of working.
The Museum of Liverpool — Liverpool, UK
The new museum building opened in 2011 and was designed to reduce it’s carbon dioxide emissions, one of the biggest greenhouse gas contributors to global warming. It features a ‘trigeneration plant’ a combined cooling, heat and power system which usually uses a single fuel source. This has helped the museum to drastically reduce its Co2 output. The museum is a trailblazer in integrating sustainability into museum design and hopefully other institutions will follow.
The Natural History Museum — London, UK
An obvious choice, but the Natural History Museum uses it’s exhibits to inform and educate the public on the natural environment and biodiversity. It also boasts a wildlife garden. Opened in 1995, it’s home to 3,300 species and can be explored by the public at certain times of the year.
Furthermore the ‘Urban Nature Project’ intends to showcase its scientific research to the public through the expansion of it’s current greenspace. The new space will feature double the amount of wildlife habitats and aims to teach the public about ‘the incredible diversity of life on Earth and how the planet has changed over time’ as well as teaching them about the impact of human activities on biodiversity.[1]
The Climate Museum — New York, USA
This is the first institution in America dedicated to the climate crises. Their mission is to ‘inspire action on the climate crises with programming across the arts and sciences that deepens understanding, builds connections, and advances just solutions.’[2] The museum has certainly provoked conversation through it’s exhibitions, the most recent of which collaborates with artist Mona Chalabi to dispel disinformation distributed by the fossil-fuel industry. It also has a series of educational programmes to engage it’s audiences with debates surrounding climate change. For more information visit their website.
The Science Museum Group — UK
The Science Museum Group consists of the Science Museum, National Science and Media Museum, Science and Industry Museum, National Railway Museum and Locomotion. Underneath the banner of the Science Museum Group, they have worked to embed sustainability into the heart of everything that they do.
They’ve signed up to the Science-based Target Initiative which encourages institutions to cut down on emissions produced through running their buildings and operations, as well as from the goods and services they use.
Additionally, in anticipation of the Cop26 talks, they’ve put on a series of talks at various institutions which look at tackling some of the most severe issues caused by climate change. They’ve also embraced the digital world through the creation of free online resources such as their sustainability blog along with videos and activities that can be conducted at home to educate audiences on the impact of climate change.
Towards a more sustainable future…
Through integrating sustainability into the heart of their organisations these institutions have become examples of how their fellow heritage organisations can operate in a more efficient way. Through using exhibitions and outreach to educate the public, these museums demonstrate how they can use their platforms to encourage audiences to think about their impact on the environment.
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[1] Natural History Museum, Urban Nature Project (2021) <Urban Nature Project | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)> [Accessed: 13/11/2021]
[2] The Climate Museum, Culture for Action (2021) < Mission — Climate Museum> [Accessed: 13/11/2021}
