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Framework for climate action in cultural &heritage organisations
1Overview and principles
This framework aims to help cultural and heritage organisations think about how to:
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manage the risks of climate change for their own future
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make a contribution to tackle ‘global climatic disruption’
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deal with other aspects of environmental damage, which might contribute to thecause or be an effect of climate change. The author is Bridget McKenzie, Director of Flow Associates, but it is intended as acollaborative co-owned framework. It is posted in Digress.it so that you can commentand help develop it. Please suggest links to add to the resources section and flesh outinformation where you think it’s missing. Practice from outside the UK would be veryinteresting.It may be most useful for museums, galleries, archives, libraries and heritage bodiesbut it contains much of relevance to related sectors
. The framework consists of:
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Ten principles to underpin the framework
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Three dimensions of action for:
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All organisations
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All public organisations
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All cultural & heritage organisations
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Two dimensions of planning for risk:
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Global
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Local
2Ten principles
To underpin the framework, organisations will need to adopt some or all of theseprinciples, adapting and expanding them as relevant to their situation.1.However local our remit, we accept a global responsibility and perspective.2.The survival of our own organisation as it is, is only important so that we cancontribute to wider social and global challenges.3.Sustainability is not about the survival of every initiative but the evolution of ourservices to meet environmental, cultural and educational needs as they change.4.It is essential that we collaborate with other bodies to share knowledge andresources.
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.
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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.6.We should not delay in reducing greenhouse gas emissions across ouroperations, as this is only a first step.7.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.
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We should prioritise community engagement, working more closely withagencies involved in natural environment, place-making, engineering andsustainable economics. We should redefine our audiences as communities of interest, groups of people who need to learn and solve problems.
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We should drive towards contextualisation, so that artefacts and knowledge aremore dynamically placed into an ecosystem of landscape, biodiversity andhuman economics and creativity.
3Three dimensions of action
3.1
Mitigation and adaptation
Both of these, in balance, are priorities for all organisations of any kind.Mitigation by:
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Reducing the risk of climate disruption worsening
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Reducing emissions
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Protecting wilderness (that held in stewardship or by indirect support)
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By supporting green designAdaptation by:
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Forward-thinking planning for the risks of climate disruption
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Protecting and strengthening assets
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Moving assets or not developing them in risk areas
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Developing sustainable infrastructure
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Helping communities deal with change and loss
3.2Infrastructure and Mission
Public service broadcasters, arts agencies, science or design bodies, should considerhow to Mitigate and Adapt to climate change through both their Infrastructure and theirPublic Mission.Infrastructure:
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Balance of both mitigation & adaption
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With buildings, landscapes, administrative practices, travel, technology
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Not forgetting hidden infrastructure such as ethical finance
Public Mission:
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Support and encourage mitigation & adaptation actions by the wider public
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Learning from the past to develop new solutions
3.3Preventing and Recording Loss
All in the cultural and heritage sectors have missions to sustain cultural activity, topreserve heritage in perpetuity and to help people cope with change and prepare forchallenge.Preventing and reducing loss (a specific aspect of mitigation):
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Researching and raising awareness of threats to culture & knowledge due toextreme events, ecosystem destruction and the dispersal of cultural groups
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Moving assets to protect them, placing them in new contextsRecording and restoring what is lost (a specific aspect of adaptation):
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Community co-curation and research to recover knowledge
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Restoration of natural and cultural heritage
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Helping communities deal with loss
4Opportunities and risks
4.1Global risk
The effects of climate disruption on a single country must be understood in a globalcontext. For example, the UK’s economy is reliant on other countries for its food supplyand industrial 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
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Panel was based on science conducted up to 2005. Models since then,for example by MIT in 2009, identify greater risks as ice at both poles is melting muchfaster than predicted. The IPCC 2007 report did not account for polar melting or therelease of methane from frozen tundra, but focused on glacier melting and thermalexpansion of the oceans.IPPC’s risks posedby climate changeCultural & heritage organisations can aid work to:
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