How Can the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals Shape Your Museum’s Future?

Why the SDGs Matter for Museums

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were introduced in 2015 as part of a global agenda to achieve a better, more sustainable future by 2030. Covering everything from climate action and biodiversity to responsible consumption and reducing inequalities, the 17 goals provide a comprehensive framework for tackling today’s most pressing challenges.

For Beamish, the SDGs have provided not only a framework but a sense of focus — helping the museum align its environmental ambitions with internationally recognised goals. Wilkinson explained that this has helped staff understand how their work fits into a much bigger picture, while also demonstrating to funders, visitors, and stakeholders that Beamish is serious about its responsibilities as a sustainable cultural institution.

A Unique Historical Context

Set across 500 acres in County Durham, Beamish is a museum that brings the industrial and social history of North East England to life — from the early 1820s to the 1950s. This industrial focus presents both a challenge and an opportunity when it comes to sustainability.

On one hand, authentically recreating industrial life can have significant environmental impacts — from the carbon footprint of exhibits to waste and energy use. On the other, Beamish is uniquely placed to show visitors how the region’s heavy industry shaped environmental issues — and how the lessons of the past can guide a more sustainable future.

Leadership and Governance – A Critical Foundation

Wilkinson stressed that Beamish’s sustainability work would not be possible without strong governance. The museum’s leadership team and board of trustees have placed sustainability at the heart of the organisation’s strategic plan, ensuring it is not treated as an add-on but as a core value.

This commitment is underpinned by Beamish’s Environmental Action Plan — a working document that assigns clear responsibilities across the organisation and holds teams accountable for progress. A dedicated Climate Action Team, made up of staff and volunteers, further supports this work, ensuring sustainability is everyone’s business.

From Industrial Heritage to Climate Action

Education is a key part of Beamish’s approach. As part of its climate education programme, the museum has worked with over 800 schoolchildren, using the site’s historical narratives to explain how industrial development has shaped the environment. Through hands-on activities, including tree planting across the museum’s 500-acre estate, children are empowered to become part of the solution — actively contributing to the museum’s carbon offsetting efforts while building a sense of environmental stewardship from an early age.

Tree planting is also a central part of Beamish’s wider sustainability strategy. The museum’s extensive woodland plays a vital role in carbon sequestration, helping to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while enhancing biodiversity and supporting local wildlife. This dual focus on environmental education and practical conservation reflects Beamish’s commitment to using its unique landscape not only as a setting for heritage interpretation, but as a living, breathing part of its sustainability work.

Visitors are also invited to join the journey. From reducing single-use plastics in the museum’s catering outlets to sharing its environmental goals more openly, Beamish encourages its community to think about their own sustainability choices — showing how small individual actions can add up to make a real difference.

Circularity in Collections and Costumes

Sustainability also informs how Beamish manages its collections and costumes. The museum’s costume team, for example, takes a circular approach — repairing, reusing, and upcycling wherever possible. Offcuts become rag rugs, charity shop finds are repurposed into period clothing, and materials that can no longer be used are sent for local recycling.

This commitment to resourcefulness not only reduces waste but also offers a powerful message about the value of materials and the importance of reducing consumption — all framed through the lens of historical practices.

Partnerships and Collaboration

Another crucial lesson from Beamish’s experience is the importance of partnerships. Wilkinson stressed that no museum can achieve sustainability alone. From working with local suppliers to collaborating with other cultural institutions, Beamish recognises that collective action is essential.

As a regional anchor institution, Beamish also understands its role in influencing wider conversations around sustainability. By using its platform to advocate for climate action, the museum helps drive change beyond its own walls — inspiring visitors, community partners, and the wider heritage sector.

From Policy to Practical Action

Wilkinson’s key message to museum professionals was clear: sustainability strategies need to be more than just documents on a shelf. They must translate into everyday actions, from conducting regular energy audits to embedding sustainability in procurement decisions.

At Beamish, this focus on continuous improvement means the museum’s Environmental Action Plan evolves over time, adapting to new technologies, ideas, and challenges. This flexible, action-focused approach ensures sustainability remains a living process — not a box-ticking exercise.

Key Takeaways for Museums

For museums looking to follow Beamish’s lead, Wilkinson offered the following advice:

• Secure leadership commitment – Sustainability must be embedded at board and senior management level.
• Empower staff and volunteers – Build climate action into everyone’s role.
• Use your unique stories – Connect sustainability to your site’s history and collections.
• Engage visitors and communities – Make sustainability part of the visitor experience.
• Think circular – Find opportunities to reuse, repurpose, and reduce waste.
• Collaborate widely – Work with partners across sectors to amplify your impact.

Wilkinson closed her talk with a reminder that perfection is not the goal. In the words of campaigner Anne-Marie Bonneau: “We don’t need a handful of people doing sustainability perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”

Beamish’s example connects a global framework to work that teams can recognise: an action plan with named responsibilities, repair and reuse in the costume department, and learning rooted in the site’s industrial history. The reported school participation shows programme reach. Any claim about carbon offsetting needs separate measurement of sequestration and its timescale, rather than being inferred from the number of children or trees involved.

Explore the wider framework of the Sustainable Development Goals in museums, or compare industrial heritage and climate interpretation at Discovery Museum.

Lisa Wilkinson, Beamish Museum’s Sustainability Manager spoke at the Green Museums Summit 2025.