The Sustainable Museum: How Museums Contribute to the Great Transformation

Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Preface and acknowledgements
Chapter 1: Introduction: Sustainability in museums as a search and learning process
1.1 The status quo: orientation on unfamiliar terrain
1.2 Preparation: exploration, compilation and inspiration
1.3 The content: sustainability, the museum and transformation
Part I: Museums and sustainability
Chapter 2: The museum sector in transition
2.1 Global crises as the starting point
Complexity in the Anthropocene
Long time horizons and the speed of change
Uncertainty and risk
Wicked problems
Sustainability as a response to global challenges
2.2 The concept of sustainability
Background and context
Beginnings sustainability as a primal human instinct
1972 Outlining the problem: The limits to growth
1987 The guiding principle: Sustainable development
1992 A global partnership for environment and development
1997 Binding climate protection targets
2000 The Millennium Development Goals
2002 The Great Transition
2004 Agenda 21 for Culture
2015 Sustainable Development Goals
2020 ESD 2030
Fundamental values and the ethics of sustainability
The understanding of and discourse on sustainability
Key ideas of sustainability
Transformation and cultural change
Degrowth and sufficiency
Global responsibility and CSR
Glocalisation and Local Agenda 21
Participation and cooperation
Learning and adaptation
2.3 Sustainability in the museum: Between utopia and banality
Sustainability lies at the core of the mission of museums
Sustainability is a higher-order task
Obstacles and preserving the status quo
From “nice-to-have” to “must-have”
References
Chapter 3: The vision: The sustainable museum
3.1 Sustainability as a guiding principle for museums
Four principles of the sustainable museum
Dimensions of sustainability in museums
Strong sustainability and the planetary boundaries of museum work
Pitfalls: Learning from 35 years of sustainability
Sufficiency rather than only efficiency
Degrowth rather than only Green Growth
A holistic perspective on Enkeltauglichkeit instead of only piecemeal technocratic responses
A great transformation rather than only climate protection
Political regulation rather than only individual behavioural change
The “art of the future” rather than only simple solutions
Starting points for introducing sustainability into museums
3.2 Museums and the Great Transformation
Internal and external sustainability
Approaches to achieving societal impact
3.3 Agenda 2030 as a global frame of reference
The SDGs in the work of museums
The blind spots in Agenda 2030
3.4 Participatory science as social context
Public science for the governance of a sustainable democracy
The participatory science society of the future
Museums as key actors in the science society
Note
References
Chapter 4: Three levers for the transformation
4.1 The illusion of neutrality and political activism
Neutrality and value orientation in museums
Engagement and political activism
4.2 Climate protection and decarbonisation
Calculating the climate footprint of museums
From climate accounting to ecological footprinting
4.3 The public as change agent
Diversity, inclusion and disadvantaged target groups
Sustainability communication in the museum
From intention to action: Research on behavioural psychology
Applied communication psychology in the museum
References
Part II: Sustainable museum management
Chapter 5: Transformational leadership and museum governance
5.1 Strategic development through impact orientation
Measuring the impact of a museum
5.2 Governance, leadership and new work
Museum governance for sustainability
Leadership style and hierarchies
New Work and workplace culture
5.3 Human resources policy and the workplace
The museum as employer
Sustainable human resources policy
Human resources development
Notes
References
Chapter 6: Sustainable management and eco-efficient museum operations
6.1 Institutional resilience and a broader approach to accounting
Admission prices and museum shops
Diversification of funding
Economic benefits from sustainable operations
Sustainability accounting as a driver of organisational transformation
Museums as degrowth pioneers
6.2 Sustainable procurement
Implementation and procedure
Challenges for the museum
Life cycle analysis
The purchase of goods in museum shops
6.3 Buildings and resource use
Facility management as resource management
Energy
Water and wastewater
Materials and waste management
Renovation and new construction
The new role of facility management in the sustainable museum
Notes
References
Chapter 7: Realigning collections and sustainable conservation
7.1 The need for a hermeneutic re-vision
De-colonisation and re-contextualisation
Guardianship and dynamic conservation
Post-globalisation and digitality
7.2 Degrowth and deaccessioning
Collection strategy and growth
Simplifying deaccessioning
New opportunities created by shrinking collections
7.3 Archives, storage facilities, safeguarding collections and environmentally efficient processes
Indoor climate and sustainability
Risk management
Energy-efficient storage facilities
Sustainability in conservation and restoration
References
Chapter 8: Transdisciplinary research and sustainability science in museums
8.1 Sustainability as a scientific field and transdisciplinary research
Social cohesion through transdisciplinary science
Transdisciplinary research in museums
Transdisciplinarity as a means to achieving local embeddedness
8.2 From the “public understanding of research” to the communication of epistemological practices
The philosophy of science as a basis for the mediation of knowledge
A place for critical reflection on the history of science
Epistemology as a visitor experience
8.3 Citizen Science and open research labs
Museums as the nucleus of sustainable Citizen Science
Digitised collections and Big Open Data
Open research labs in museums
References
Chapter 9: Collaborative curation and sustainable exhibitions
9.1 Sustainable programming and thematic framing
Demonstrating the links to sustainability
Exhibitions on core challenges of social transformation
9.2 Transformative curating and exhibiting
Storytelling and narratives of sustainability
Complexity and uncertainty require new interactions
Digitality as an opportunity for audience orientation
Sustainable exhibition design and transformational scenography
9.3 Sharing and sustainable production
Environmentally friendly materials and life cycle assessment
Media technology and energy efficiency
Sharing, modular systems and exhibition exchange platforms
9.4 From loans to collaborative collecting
New forms of risk management and the modal split
Packaging and materials
Dispensing with courier services and reorganising the loan system
Rethinking the transportation of cultural goods
References
Chapter 10: Sustainable education and participation in museums
10.1 The museum as a place of learning for transformation
Transformative learning and sustainability
The museum as a learning organisation
10.2 Education for sustainable development within museum education
ESD and the sustainable development goals
ESD as a recalcitrant concept in museums
Imparting the skills for a sustainable future
The museum as a place for acquiring competencies
10.3 Participation, co-creation and crowdsourcing
Co-creation and an end to the visitor-centred museum
Tinkering and the maker culture
10.4 From educational programmes to local activism
Object-based learning in local education networks
Initiating practical projects
Cooperating with sustainability initiatives
Extending and developing the links to sustainable tourism
References
Part III: Putting sustainability into practice
Chapter 11: Sustainability in museums as a process of change
11.1 Sustainability management in the museum
Determining goals and scope
Integrating sustainability into everyday museum life
Managing change successfully
Process and instruments
Taking into account the factors for successful change processes
11.2 Emergent change and participation
Enabling continuous participation
Communicating change within the museum
Identifying levels of communication and benefits
11.3 Actors, roles and positions
The director as role model
The sustainability team as a key actor
The head of sustainability as pilot of the process
Implementation within departments and working groups
Accessing external support
11.4 Empowerment and meaningful work
From motivation to meaningful work
Empowering employees to adopt sustainable behaviour
Note
References
Chapter 12: Sustainability strategy, targets and indicators in museums
12.1 Mission statement and launch
Telling the sustainable change story
Initiating the process
Outlining a vision
12.2 Fields of action and goals
Defining the material fields of action
Formulating sustainability strategy and goals
12.3 Modular indicator system for sustainable museums
Defining indicators
Adapting sustainability indicators
Indicators specific to museums
Modular indicator system
12.4 Analysis of the status quo and monitoring
Measuring indicators: methods of data collection
Monitoring progress
12.5 Resources and timeframes
Setting a realistic timeframe
Notes
References
Chapter 13: Implementation and sustainability reporting in museums
13.1 The sustainability programme: measures and conflicting goals
Anticipating conflicts
Weighing up conflicting goals
13.2 Overcoming resistance and taking the first small steps
Tackling resistance at the individual level
Overcoming organisational obstacles
Adapting to the size of the institution
Small steps, quick wins and low-hanging fruit
13.3 The sustainability report: design, production and publication
Principles and contents
Transparency and credibility
Choosing the format and parameters
Defining goals and target groups
Producing the report
Open reflection and attractive design
Defining the scope and the medium
Determining publication frequency and estimating expenditure
External consultancy and the option of a review
13.4 Reporting as an opportunity for the museum sector
Reporting as a joint task for the museum sector
Introducing reporting in museums
Notes
References
Index