Schedule

Everybody is talking about doing something about climate change. And not before time. But the problem for many people is that the task seems enormous, and it is sometimes difficult to decide where to start. And the terminology can be confusing: zero carbon, demand reduction, mitigation, climate change risk assessment, resilience, adaptation plans – what does it all mean? This talk explores what on Earth is going on and cuts through the jargon. It also offers advice on practical steps for implementing actions in museums that will make the organisation more resilient, protect the collections, save money, and reduce your carbon footprint. For individuals as organisations, the starting point is often not where the largest impact can be achieved, but where we have most control over processes. Much of what we achieve is about communication, and this talk will therefore also cover relationships and influence. You will leave this presentation with a few ideas of how to start making changes in your organisation, and the practical steps needed to implement them.

More museums are interested in climate issues, and the Museum of Ethnography, Geneva, is no exception. But in the context of growing eco-anxiety, a museum must not only echo the climate crisis. It must also offer concrete tools to transform the feeling of helplessness into cultural and climate empowerment.

This presentation shares how MEG is combining storytelling with action. Working with expert indigenous representatives to tell “their” climate change story and stakeholders to develop activities that discuss the climate crisis while offering concrete steps to implement here and now.

We know that audiences care deeply about the climate crisis, and that they think museums have a strong remit to lead the conversation. But we also know that a tidal wave of sustainability messaging has left audiences with, at best, green fatigue, and worst, feelings of helplessness and dread – both of which are the enemies of engagement. Through the lens of the Design Museum’s ‘Waste Age’ exhibition, this session explores what we can do to support audiences through the climate crisis in a way that feels not only important and worthy, but genuinely interesting, sparking debate and further curiosity.

Imagine a high-level environmental meeting with hundreds of delegates on a beautiful summer day in Stockholm. Now imagine a Turner-prize winning artist who creates an artwork where the delegates and thousands of other people are given climate friendly energy bars, or edible sculptures if you will, to remind them that food has an enormous impact on the climate. That same day five thousand school children are served a future food lunch with insect protein. Do you see it? You are looking at Moderna Museet’s recent project with Jeremy Deller. Tune in to hear the full story.

Artists and scientists are cut from the same cloth: inquisitive, truth-seekers, rule-breakers. They depend on each other to communicate and inspire action. At the National Aquarium, located in Baltimore, Maryland, a new program unites these disciplines under a shared desire to protect our blue planet, all with a goal of engaging a new-to-us audience. Tune in to learn about Voyages, an immersive event series by and for the community, in which local artists connect with our expert staff as well as scientists in the field, then translate their research into a reimagined Aquarium experience.

Led by Art Fund and supported by Arts Council England, The Wild Escape is the largest ever initiative of its kind to bring together the museum community.

The project which brings together more than 500 partners will encourage children to create wildlife artworks based on animals featured in the museum collections – artworks which will then be brought to life in an “epic-scale artwork” to be created by BAFTA-winning games studio, PRELOADED.

Discover the story behind The Wild Escape in this presentations from the Art Fund.

Manchester Museum will reopen in February 2023 following a £15m transformation – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand the museum and rethink how it cares for the world and its inhabitants. The mission is to build understanding between cultures and a more sustainable world, and this is driven by the museum’s values to be inclusive, imaginative and caring. This commitment extends to every corner of the building, including our shop. Visitors will find a much bigger beautifully decorated museum gift shop on the ground floor, designed by Lancashire based Artistry House. The products on offer will be inspired by the museum’s collections and made by local, diverse and sustainable suppliers. One of the main objectives of the sustainable retail strategy is to move away from single-use plastics across all product areas, particularly children’s toys.

Understanding the impacts from the design and creation of exhibitions is paramount to developing strategies for a more sustainable future for museums. Join the folks leading the Guggenheim’s sustainability strategy as we share what we’ve learned and how we will continue to uncover further opportunities for sustainable innovation.

The new agency of a museum facilities manager is understanding the earth IS the ultimate reliquary. The modern Facilities/Building Manager is now tasked to recommend efficient practices, source equipment that harnesses renewable energy, and improve overall infrastructure in response to climate change in the (dare I say it) Anthropocene. Historically a museum building manager has never had a more integral responsibility. Self-evident considerations of collection conservation now require both short and long-term development of a facilities resiliency, efficiency and sustainability. Tasked like never before as front-line partners with museum leadership, curators, conservators, engineers, architects, local municipalities, and more, a museum’s building manager wears a new, very critical hat.

Imagine a touring exhibition that had zero shipping miles and zero waste, and yet could facilitate the exchange of ideas between communities across the globe. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Yet after years of designing exhibitions for provincial museums in Aotearoa/ New Zealand I have successfully trialed a zero waste zero shipping exhibition, and then realized in the process that it has the potential to exist simultaneously in venues anywhere in the world, and to facilitate and express an ongoing conversation between curator, designer, and communities.

We are bombarded by messaging of impending apocalypse from climate change and biodiversity loss, leaving many of us numb, fearful, or hopeless. Museums, aquariums, and zoos are in a unique position to shift this eco-crisis narrative, reveal a more hopeful future, and catalyze a movement to regenerate nature. Imagine an influential subset of cultural institutions joining forces to spread an inspiring new story that builds on the youth-driven movement interweaving climate, biodiversity, and social justice. A trio of campaigns focused on raising awareness, boosting understanding, and catalyzing actions inside and beyond our walls can get us started. Will you join?