ACTIONS
- Protect and safeguard cultural and natural heritage
- Learning and educational opportunities
- Cultural participation/social inclusion
- Sustainable tourism
- Support research
- Employment (recruiting, training, safety)
- Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions
- Waste management and reduction
- Transport (forms of, energy use)
- Commercial activities including copyright and IP
- Governance and management
- Security, disaster preparedness, risk reduction
- External partnerships and collaborations
SDGs
- Toolkit/framework/roadmap
- Sign-post to other resource (database)
- Case studies
- Video
CIMAM Toolkit on Environmental Sustainability in the Museum Practice
- CiMAM (International Council of Museums International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art
“At CIMAM we recognize climate and ecological emergency and are seriously committed to working towards sustainability understood in the broadest terms set out by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2030. As an international organization dedicated to promoting best practices in modern and contemporary art museums, and to raising awareness and responding to the evolving needs of the profession, environmental sustainability is one of the main and most urgent aspects we should take care of.
It is part of our mission to foster change and facilitate to our members the resources, tools, guides, and examples to reduce museums’ carbon footprint in the short, medium, and long term. CIMAM encourages its members to commit to implementing the necessary changes for achieving climate neutrality according to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This toolkit produced thanks to the contributions of CIMAM Board members 2020–22, aims to help contemporary art museum professionals start implementing the necessary changes to become carbon neutral”
Avaiable in
- English
5Ps
Actions
- Learning and educational opportunities
- Sustainable tourism
- Employment (recruiting, training, safety)
- Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions
- Waste management and reduction
- Transport (forms of, energy use)
- Commercial activities including copyright and IP
- Governance and management
- External partnerships and collaborations
SDGs LINKAGES
Implementing the resource helps support a number of SDG targets, as follows:
Overall, embracing sustainable practices and reporting supports SDG 12.6.
Staff training and public programming support SDGs 4.7 (Education for Sustainable Development), 12.8 (lifestyles in harmony with nature) and 13.3. (climate change education, awareness and institutional capacity), as well as 4.4 (skills for work). Ensuring programming decisions accommodate sustainable development perspectives supports SDG 8.9 (sustainable tourism). Encouraging and promoting sustainable travel supports SDG 11.2. Promoting sustainable procurement supports SDG 12.7. Adopting policies for sustainable development supports SDG 16.B. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, air and other forms of pollution contributes to SDGs 11.6 (reducing the adverse environmental impact of cities) and 13.1 (adapting to climate change in all countries).
The resource supports a number of targets in SDG 12 (responsible and sustainable production and consumption), including: 12.2 (sustainable use of natural resources), 12.3 (reducing food waste), 12.4 (management of chemicals and wastes), 12.5 (reducing waste generation), 12.6 (adopting sustainable practices and reporting) and 12.7 (sustainable procurement), and 14.1 (reducing marine pollution). Reducing use of toxic chemicals supports SDG 6.3 (on water quality). Efficient water management supports SDG 6.4. Upgrading lighting to be low-energy and increasing use of solar energy supports 7.2 (uptake of renewable energy), 7.3 (increasing energy efficiency) and 9.4 (upgrading infrastructure to be sustainable).
Promoting responsible offsetting supports SDGs 15.A (mobilising finance for nature conservation) and 15.B (support for developing countries for conservation). Partnering with like-minded museums supports SDG 17.17 (multistakeholder partnerships for sustainable development). Overall, the resource helps support SDGs 13.1 (reducing greenhouse gas emissions in all countries) and 13.3 (institutional capacity to act on climate change), as well as 11.4 (strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard cultural and natural heritage) and 15.5 (prevent the destruction of habitats and conserve species).
Click on the SDG Target to discover Our Collections Matter indicators
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number of young people and adults in skills-development activities and programmes drawing on collections, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.
- Increase in number of young people and adults in such programmes.
- Number and proportion of staff who have received training in the last year, to better support their contribution to the SDGs.
- Programs and processes in place to ensure the availability of a skilled workforce.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Numbers of people in each type of programme drawing on collections from different demographic groups.
- Increases in numbers of people in each type of programme from different demographic groups.
- Proportion of people involved in such programmes in relation to overall audience size.
- Evidence that learners have acquired knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Amount of pollutants, and reduction in pollutants, to water systems.
- Plans in place for the identification, reduction, replacement and recycling of hazardous chemical and materials, to prevent their release into water systems, with plans to eliminate their use as soon as possible.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Reductions in water use, increase in water recycling, preventing water shortages in vicinity.
- Information on, programmes relating to, and partnerships relating to water use drawing on collections and collections-based institutions in place, to support efficient use of water.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion of energy that comes from renewable sources.
- Date to achieve net zero, and milestones towards that date.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Reduction in energy use.
- Upgrade of old equipment to more efficient equipment.
- Uptake of renewable sources of energy.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Numbers of jobs created or supported that relate to sustainable tourism drawing on local products (e.g. craft producers).
- Develop and implement plans to reduce and remove negative impacts of tourism.
- Numbers of activities and/or products drawing on local culture.
- Value to artisans and source communities of activities and products drawing on local culture.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number and proportion of collections facilities that make efficient use of resources, with an ongoing drive for efficiencies and reductions in energy use and waste of all forms.
- Number and proportion of collections facilities that use clean and environmentally sound technologies, including climate-friendly energy sources and materials, with an ongoing commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste of all forms.
- Number and proportion of collections facilities that adopt and/or prioritise collections-related processes and practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste of all forms.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Total expenditure (public and private) per capita spent on the preservation, protection and conservation of all cultural and natural heritage, by type of heritage.
- Plans, policies and procedures in place for the safe use of collections for a variety of purposes, protecting and safeguarding both collections and those who use them.
- Plans, policies and procedures in place for the identification, safeguarding and protection of cultural and natural heritage at risk.
- Collecting programmes in place to protect, safeguard and make use of cultural and natural heritage, addressing the needs of communities and stakeholders, and ensuring that collections can be an effective resource for sustainable development.
- Number and diversity of educational, awareness-raising, research programmes, and partnerships that aim to strengthen protection of cultural and natural heritage.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Plans in place to reduce negative impacts on air quality, and volume and forms of waste.
- Plans in place to eliminate waste of all forms as soon as possible.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Reduction of material footprint in terms of reductions in consumption of biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores and non-metal ores.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Quantities, and reduction in quantities, of food waste, both in terms of waste going for treatment, and waste going to landfill or being otherwise discarded into the environment.
- Policies and plans in place to reduce and eliminate food waste as soon as possible.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Quantities, and reduction in quantities, of chemicals of all kinds, including chemicals used in maintenance of collections facilities, and chemicals used in care and preparation of collections, and all wastes throughout their life cycle, reducing release to air, water and soil.
- Plans in place to eliminate the use and release of hazardous chemicals and harmful wastes of all kinds into the natural environment as soon as possible.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Quantity and reductions in quantity of waste of all kinds, including avoidance/prevention of waste production, reuse, and recycling. Quantity of material recycled in comparison with quantity sent to landfill. Increases in recycling rate in comparison with landfill.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Clear visions, strategies and plans in place for all aspects of sustainability – environmental, social and economic (people, planet, prosperity)- across all areas of activity.
- Visions, strategies and plans relating to sustainability to be publicly available and incorporated into planning documents.
- Commitments to be in line with local, regional, national and/or international targets and ambitions.
- Incorporation of sustainability into reporting for funders and other stakeholders, including the public. Reporting to include commitments and progress towards targets.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Incorporation of sustainability considerations into procurement, in terms of advertisement and invitation to tender, contracts, and selection criteria for suppliers.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development (including climate change education) are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment.
- Extent to which global citizenship education and education for sustainable development (including climate change education) are mainstreamed in formal, informal and non-formal education programmes and activities drawing on and related to collections.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Plans in place for near and longer term to withstand and actively adapt to climate-related hazards and natural disasters.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Plans in place to enhance positive contributions to addressing climate change through use of collections. Plans in place to ensure collections, collections institutions and broader society can adapt effectively to climate change.
- Plans in place for effective education and awareness raising on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
- Plans in place to reduce negative contributions of collections-related functions, e.g. measuring greenhouse emissions with plans and targets in place to reduce them.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number of collections-related programmes, for example research and education, that aim to reduce marine pollution.
- Quantity, and reduction, of waste of all sorts, with plans in place to eliminate waste of all sorts as soon as possible.
- Quantity, and reduction, of plastic waste, with plans in place to eliminate the production and release of plastic waste as soon as possible.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number and proportion of habitats, notably endangered habitats, and species with favourable conservation status, with special reference to locally, nationally and globally endangered species.
- Information on, programmes relating to, collections development, and partnerships relating to habitats and species drawing on collections in place, to support their protection and continued existence.
- Measures taken to enhance biodiversity value of green space associated with collections institutions.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Revenue generated to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems.
- Direct financial support given to projects and organisations for conservation and/or sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Revenue generated to conserve and sustainably use forests, including conservation and reforestation, and that support local and Indigenous peoples.
- Direct financial support given to projects and organisations to conserve and sustainably use forests, including for conservation and reforestation, and that support local and Indigenous peoples.
- Other forms of support provided to projects and organisations to conserve and sustainably use forests, including for conservation and reforestation, and that support local and Indigenous peoples.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion of population [audience/users/non-users] reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed in the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law.
- Number and proportion of policies that incorporate sustainable development considerations, in the full sense of recognizing all three of social, economic and environmental considerations.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Plans in place to ensure safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, in terms of accessing collections-based institutions.
- Plans in place to use collections-based institutions to provide education and awareness of public transport systems and their development.
- Special attention to those in vulnerable situations, including women, children, disabled and older people, taken in plans regarding public tansport.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Amount of financial and other forms of support from Global North to Global South countries, to support their use of environmentally sound technologies.