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Draft framework for climate action in culture and heritage
1Overview and principles
 This framework aims to help cultural and heritage organisations think broadly:- about the risks of climate change for their own future and- how they can make a contribution to tackle ‘global climatic disruption’
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 It may be most useful for museums, galleries, archives, libraries and heritage bodiesbut it contains much of relevance to related sectors
2
. It
is an articulation of the principles of Flow Associates to underpin our work with clients, alongside two other  papers on Cultural Service Design and Creative Enquiry as a Learning Approach. Weare sharing it because we hope it will be of some wider use in a context of crisis. If youwant to share any resources, or discuss and improve this framework, please contact bridget.mckenzie@flowassociates.com 
 To succeed in implementing this framework, organisations will need to consider someprinciples, adapting them as relevant:
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However local our remit, we accept a global responsibility and perspective.
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 The survival of our own organisation as it is, is only important so that we cancontribute to wider social and global challenges.
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Sustainability is not about the survival of every initiative but the evolution of ourservices to meet environmental, cultural and educational needs as they change.
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It is essential that we collaborate with other bodies to share knowledge andresources.
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We need to make our assets even more accessible to aid urgent and pragmaticlearning from them. This may involve increasing digital access to our culture andknowledge.
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We should not delay in reducing greenhouse gas emissions across ouroperations, as this is only a first step.
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We must model and enable imaginative thinking and practice, workingoptimistically and generously with creative people and ideas.
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We must aim to think systemically to deal with the complexity of the situation, sothat we can continually reassess our priorities.
1 Used by John Holdren, President Obama’s advisor on environmental policy, as a replacement for the term climatechange. It conveys more accurately the unpredictable, dangerous and global nature of the situation.2 The framework is conceived for the UK, especially England where culture is governed by Department for Culture,Media & Sport whose ‘family’ also includes media & broadcast, sport, tourism & the creative industries.
 
2Action spreads through three levels
2.1Generic to all public & commercial organisations
  The twin challenges for any organisation are the mitigation of risk and adapting tochange:
2.2Generic to all bodies with a public engagement mission
Public service broadcasters, arts agencies, science or design bodies, should considerhow both their operations and their mission can help us mitigate and adapt to climatechange:
2.3
Generic to all cultural and heritage bodies
All in this sector have missions to sustain cultural activity, to preserve heritage inperpetuity and to help people cope with change and prepare for challenge.
3Contributions by cultural heritage organisations
3.1Global risk 
 The effects of climate disruption on a single country must be understood in a globalcontext. The UK’s economy is reliant on other countries for its food supply andindustrial production. Also, loss of liveable land worldwide will place much greaterpressures on the UK from migration, aid responsibilities and an increased threat of terrorism and war. These factors, resulting in a severe economic downturn and foodshortage, will significantly outweigh the risks of extreme local weather or tidal eventsfor the UK culture & heritage sectors. Culture and heritage will not be seen as a priorityin these circumstances although there is much evidence from the past thatcommunities which maintain strong cultural participation are more resilient andcreative in crises. The most positive approach is to demonstrate the value of culturalheritage in tackling this crisis rather than seeking to preserve our notions and practiceswhich have evolved in a context of affluence and leisure. This chart lists the climate change risks identified by the 4th Intergovernmental Panelon Climate Change in 2007 and it suggests some contributions the sector can make tomitigate or adapt to them. It may be helpful to identify these actions as opportunities.Note that the 4
th
Panel was based on science conducted up to 2005. Models since then,for example by MIT in 2009, identify greater risks as polar ice is melting much fasterthan predicted.IPPC’s risks posedby climate changeCultural & heritage organisations can aid work to:
 
Danger to up to 118million peoplelosing theircommunities to thesea (and newmodels suggest therisk is faced by 600million)
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Explore the experience of people in places such as Bangladesh orEgypt, to understand the impact of severe flooding.
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Describe and promote engineering & ecosystem solutions e.g. theDelta Project to enable people to learn and adapt them.
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Record and interpret the threatened heritage of coastal, estuary/flood-plain landscapes and peoples, so that a) we raise awarenessof its value to help tackle rising sea levels b) preserve knowledge &rescue/move heritage artefacts.
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Help these communities face the threat to their homes andlivelihoods by a) using cultural & creative means to help themunderstand the science/engineering behind coastal defence &climate change mitigation so that they can be active citizens andb) so that they are psychologically prepared to deal with change,loss and possible need to move home & business.
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Contribute to imaginative coastal defence and coastal livingschemes, accessing science & cultural heritage knowledge &contemporary art/design thinking
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When planning new coastal/estuary cultural developments, buildcoastal defence into architectural & landscaping plans if the area isprotected enough from erosion/flood to be a sustainable proposal
Risk of famine dueto the threateningof crops througharidity, flood,altered growthcycles and pests
[Note, this iscombined with loss of biodiversity caused byfactors other thanclimate change]
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Help communities learn about resilient and sustainable crops andabout new approaches to food production such as permaculture.
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Contribute to seed and plant heritage projects.
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Develop the skills and capacities in communities to grow their ownfood in gardens and allotments.
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Reduce food waste and help people cope with food rationing byraising awareness of good nutrition, storage and cooking practices.
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Expose the connections between biodiversity/ecosystemdestruction and climate change.
A large increase inthe range of diseases such asmalaria
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Explore the experiences of people where such diseases are morecommon and threatening.
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Design creative ways of resisting insect-borne diseases.
Ecosystem changes,in particular agrowth of desertsand a reduction of forests.
[Note, this destructionis both directlyhuman-caused e.g.logging & plasticpollution of seas & aconsequence of climate change e.g.forest fires, hurricanedamage]
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Help people understand interdependencies in ecosystems.
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Help people grasp the fragility of ecosystems by exploring howthey have changed and collapsed in the past.
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Learn about the experience of people living in or escaping fromdeserts, especially recent deserts such as in China.
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Raise awareness of the vital contribution of forests andphytoplankton in ‘sinking’ carbon.
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 Take part in schemes to reduce the destruction of forests and plantnew ones, and marine conservation etc.
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 Take part in schemes to record lost and changing landscapes andspecies.
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