Greening the Museums is a series of webinars that aim to create dialogue on innovative ways to turn museums into leading sustainability hubs.
Pioneering UK museum professionals will present case studies and discuss issues around curatorial practices, building operations and audience engagement through the lens of sustainability, and share best practices on lowering the carbon footprint of museums and cultural heritage sites.
The series kicked off at CoMuseum 2021: (Re)Positioning the museum of tomorrow with an online workshop entitled Curating in times of climate and ecological crisis led by Lucia Pietroiusti, Founder and Curator of the General Ecology project at London’s Serpentine Galleries and Iphigenia Taxopoulou, General Secretary at mitos21 and Julie’s Bicycle Associate.
The series is co-organised with the British Embassy in Athens and curated by Iphigenia Taxopoulou, General Secretary at mitos21 and Julie’s Bicycle Associate.
Julie’s Bicycle is a UK pioneering not-for-profit mobilising the arts and culture to take action on the climate and ecological crisis.
14 March 2022 | 15.00–17.00
Framework for environmental change in museums: Embedding sustainability
Presented by Claire Buckley, Environmental Sustainability Consultant at Julie’s Bicycle
As a sector with stewardship and community at its heart and an extraordinary reach, museums have a unique perspective to bring and role to play in their response to the climate and ecological crisis. This session will explore that particular role by sharing examples of how museums are responding and the kind of action they are taking. It will look at how museums can develop their environmental practice and embed environmental thinking and action within their organisation, based on Julie’s Bicycle’s Museums’ Environmental Framework.
15 March 2022 | 15.00–17.00
Greening the Museums: Buildings, operations, collections and exhibitions, conservation issues
Presented by Caitlin Southwick, Museum Sustainability Expert and Executive Director of KiCulture, and Sara Kassam, Sustainability Lead at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A)
This session aims to inspire impactful changes with practical examples and advice to support the planning and implementation of sustainability initiatives in museums. As there is so much potential to affect change at all levels – from people to spaces and programmes – we look at how to unlock this potential by engaging and empowering others to join your museum’s sustainability journey. Participants will leave with concrete ideas on how to get started with making green changes in their workplace and an affirmed agency for catalysing tangible change.
16 March 2022 | 15.00–17.00
Case study: Blenheim Palace, a World Heritage Site going carbon neutral
Presented by Catherine Bottrill, Blenheim’s Sustainability Consultant, CEO Pilio and Julie’s Bicycle Associate
This session will share the sustainability journey of Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which declared a climate emergency in 2019 and committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2027. We will talk about Blenheim’s roadmap for achieving carbon neutrality through energy saving, renewable energy generation and natural climate solutions, as well as their environmental fund for visitors to offset their travel carbon footprint. For Blenheim, sustainability does not stop at climate action – it is about creating space for nature on its own land. Catherine will share the learnings and insights on how heritage organisations can get started in taking climate and environmental action.
Speakers
Download the speaker biographies in the ‘Documents’ section below.
About the webinars
The webinars can be attended separately or as a bundle and are aimed at professionals from the museum, cultural heritage and arts sectors. The series offer a deep dive into the sustainability practices developed by and for the arts and cultural sector and cover key areas of work, from building and operations to collections and public programmes.
Information
For further information, please contact Maria Papaioannou:
| Maria.Papaioannou@britishcouncil.gr | |
| Telephone | 210 369 2336 |
