73 PROJECTS’ SELECTION museumsforclimateaction.org Reimagining Museums for Climate Action Project Leader: UCL Institute of Archaeology Time Duration: 2020 – 2022 Countries Involved: Worldwide Keywords: Arts for Climate, Cultural Activities, Dissemination, Engagement Description The starting point for the project is the desire to overturn the obsolete vision of museums seen as static and more concerned with the past than the present and the future. While this impression is slowly changing, museums are not the most obvious subject to focus on climate action. The urgent challenges of a warming planet can seem quite distant from the contemplative world of museums. Climate change, however, is much more than simply an environmental or scientific concern. It impacts social, cultural, political, and economic life, including museums. Questions of sponsorship, carbon emissions, waste, transport, and the need for more sustainable buildings are currently being debated across the sector. At the same time, museums have an essential role in communicating the climate crisis to the public. The project begins as a design and ideas competition, launched on International Museum Day 2020. Responding to the two main pillars of climate action – mitigation and adaptation – the competition asks how museums could help society make the profound, transformative changes needed to achieve a net-zero or zero-carbon world. Rather than focus on a specific location or type of museum, the competition invites proposals that aim to unsettle and subvert the foundations of museological thinking to support and encourage meaningful climate action. The coordinators specifically asked for design and concept proposals that were radically different from the “traditional” museum or that explored new ways for traditional museums to operate. The responses, which could address any aspect of museum design and activity, ranged from fantastical to highly practical. Output Reimagining Museums for Climate Action is developed as the AHRC Priority Area for Heritage’s contribution to the UK’s time as host of COP26. The project aims to support radical climate action in and with museums before, during and after COP26. In particular, the Green Zone exhibition at the Glasgow Science Centre is created to highlight the critical role of cultural institutions in shaping tomorrow’s world.
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