10 simple action ideas to call for (digital) climate action

Museums around the world have closed their doors in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and #FridaysForFuture has moved its activities online. This means the next global climate strikes taking place in April will be different: no large masses in the streets, but savvy action online. Here are 10 action ideas – adapted from our original action ideas – to support climate action in your #ClosedButActive museum or #MuseumFromHome:

  1. Give an online class about culture and art in a sustainable future.
    A great resource for parents now finding themselves homeschooling their kids!
  2. Share your #ObjectsOfLove.
    We all need some comfort right now, especially the kind that encourages climate action.
  3. Promote the digital climate strikes taking place in your community.
    Check out your local #FridaysForFuture for region-specific arrangements.
  4. Tell the story of young activists from other times and places, online.
    Create a blog, podcast or Instagram story. Interview contemporary activists on the phone.
  5. Revisit your online collection.
    Highlight a couple of objects on your website and their relationship to sustainability, climate, or activism.
  6. Start the process of aligning your museum strategy to the SDGs.
    Our friends at Ki Culture, the Network of European Museum Organisations, and We Are Museums have great resources or check out this free guide from Curating Tomorrow!
  7. Make your reopening a new beginning.
    Use this time to reflect, reconsider and plan ways to change your institution for the good of the planet.
  8. Assess the carbon footprint of a visit to your museum. Transport, the cafe, the office … Where can you reduce emissions together with your audience?
  9. Clean up the digital archive of your museums.
    Ancient backups, redundant files, internal emails: let’s reduce the energy bill of your servers or cloud space.
  10. Stop accepting money from fossil fuel companies.
    Use the extra time to do due diligence on all your funders: no artwashing, no greenwashing.

We need climate action and we’ll likely need it more than ever after we’ve tackled the current pandemic, but whatever you do, stay safe and ensure your audience stays safe as well.

Share your actions with #MuseumsForFuture on the usual social media, and why not tag #MuseumFromHome and #ClosedButActive too!

Remember the original 10-point action list is available in 20 languages on our website!

14 February: #ObjectsOfLove

14 February, Valentine’s Day and International School Strike Day for the Climate. Together with climate activists from around the world, we invite museums to celebrate this day with a message of hope and climate action.

Museum collections contain the collective material memory of mother earth and humankind. The heritage, history, and art they contain are a testament to our creativity, ingenuity, and diversity. The climate crisis puts all of this at risk.

On 14 February, share your #ObjectsOfLove on social media to show a world that is worth protecting. Post a photo of an object from your collection, a historic site, a living tradition, etc. online and share the story of why it’s worth protecting.

Use the hashtag #ObjectsOfLove or #MuseumsForFuture and we will amplify your voice.

You can also send us your #ObjectsOfLove via email: action@museumsforfuture.org.

MuseumsForFuture is a global movement of museum professionals and friends working to make museums a force for climate action. We support the global #FridaysForFuture movement.

Ten simple actions conservators can take in support of the Fridays For Future movement

Following up on our ten generic simple action ideas for museums to support climate action, Caitlin from Sustainability in Conservation has prepared ten simple action ideas for conservators.

  1. Put energy saving stickers around the lab and shut the sash stickers on your fume hoods.
  2. Pick an object you are working on and find an aspect of your treatment that you can make more sustainable.
    Maybe an alternative cleaning option or a reusable storage container. And if you don’t know how post your questions on our social media or forum and we can help you! @SiConserve Share your ideas and progress!
  3. Set up recycling programs.
    Find out whether there are any recycling schemes for materials you use in your studio – our website has some great information on glove recycling!
  4. When wrapping objects for transportation consider whether the packaging material is bio-degradable, reusable or recyclable.
  5. Make electronic or recycled business cards for conferences.
    Check out SiC’s Tips and Tricks for ideas!
  6. Organize a sustainability awareness meeting with your department.
  7. Pick a sustainable activity on #FridaysForFuture days and get the whole department to commit.
    Such as taking public transportation to work, not using any disposable cutlery/cups/plates or eating no meat.
  8. Share your ideas and research.
    Post on social media what ideas you have and what sustainability related research you are working on. Use #MFF and #SiConserve.
  9. Let your museum know about the #MuseumsForFuture movement and get them involved.
  10. Propose a project!
    Come up with an idea or identify areas of improvement and find a solution. Share with your department and with us! #MFF #SiConserve.

As always, take photos of your actions and share them with the #MuseumsForFuture hashtag or send an email to action@museumsforfuture.org. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to receive new action ideas an other news. Thanks!

#MuseumsForFuture feature: Sustainability in conservation

Caitlin Southwick, founder of Sustainability in Conservation, generously offered her and her team’s profound experience to create a #MuseumsForFuture feature for December and January that helps conservation become a force for good.

Welcome to the #MuseumsForFuture feature on conservation! In collaboration with #FridaysForFuture, the museum sector will be showing our support for the climate by participating in #MuseumsForFuture where we will be inviting museums to join the movement.

Climate protests have been taking place on a global scale every other month, but the work doesn’t stop with the marching. In the “off” months, #MuseumsForFuture will continue to showcase what cultural heritage professionals are doing by giving you an inside look into how sustainability applies to various specializations and aspects of museums. This month, we will be taking a deep dive into the fascinating world of art conservation and the incredible work being done by conservators around the globe to engage with sustainability via Sustainability in Conservation.

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#MuseumsForFuture November 2019

On 29 November 2019, museums in at least 19 countries showed the world culture can be a force for good.

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Ten simple actions museums can take in support of the Fridays For Future movement

In your language: 🇧🇦 Bosanski (Bosnian), 🇨🇳 中文 (Chinese simplified), 🇨🇳 中文 (Chinese traditional), 🇦🇹 Deutsch (Austria), 🇩🇪 Deutsch (Germany), 🇪🇪 Eesti keel (Estonian), 🇬🇷 ελληνικά (Greek), 🇪🇸 Español (Spanish), 🇫🇷 Français (French), 🇮🇸 Íslensku (Icelandic), 🇮🇹 Italiano (Italian), 🇯🇵 日本語 (Japanese), 🇬🇪 ქართული (Georgian), 🇱🇹 Lietuvių kalba (Lithuanian), 🇭🇺 Magyar (Hungarian), 🇳🇴 Norsk (Norwegian), 🇵🇹 Português (Portuguese), 🇷🇴 Română (Romanian), 🇷🇺 русский (Russian), 🇫🇮 Suomi (Finnish)

Most of the ideas below are simple to achieve but do require some preparation. Some directly support the global strike (1-5), others are more museum-y (6-10). Pick what suits you and your organization.

  1. Welcome strikers in your museum.
    Your toilets, tap water, and comfortable seating are assets to strikers.
  2. Hold a children’s assembly about a sustainable future. 
    That way, parents are free to march.
  3. Provide space for teach-ins, sign making, workshops.
    Offer your workshop spaces and other rooms in advance to organizers.
  4. Go on #ArtStrike, put an object on strike.
    Here are a toolkit and some more info.
  5. Archive and create a display of the strike.
    Document this all-important movement for posterity, together with the strikers.
  6. Tell the story of young activists from other times and places.
    Create a display showing how movements work and create change.
  7. Sell only local, plant-based food in your restaurant. 
    One day is feasible. And then another. And another.
  8. Make ONE part of your museum’s operations sustainable.
    The utility bill, transport, packaging… anything. If you change one thing every time there is a strike, soon you’ll be green as grass!
  9. Promote the use of public transport to get to your museum. 
    Give detailed directions and don’t fail to mention the convenience.
  10. Stop accepting money from fossil fuel companies.
    Due diligence on all your funders: no artwashing, no greenwashing.
Continue reading “Ten simple actions museums can take in support of the Fridays For Future movement”