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
- Publication/report
- Toolkit/framework/roadmap
- Case studies
Sustainability in Conservation Practice
- Da Silva, M. and J. Henderson, Journal of the Institute of Conservation
“The goal of the benchmarks proposed is to develop realistic recommendations for improvements whilst accepting that conservation practices, like almost all human activities, will have some negative environmental consequences. To fulfil sustainability goals, changes in both the application of conservation and the mentality of conservators is required. Ultimately, practising environmental sustainability is about making personal choices. Are you prepared to walk 10m to recycle your waste, reducing your contribution to landfill? Or are you content to continue with a rate of resource consumption that could ultimately result in climate destruction? Few of the recommendations made in this paper are required legally, but all could contribute to a greener future.” (p.5-6)
Avaiable in
- English
5Ps
SDGs LINKAGES
The resource can help collections-based institutions plan their activities to reduce their negative impacts on the environment, and develop effective educational activities promoting the environmental dimension of sustainable development. These support a number of SDG targets, including:
1. Targets relating to education and skills: 4.4 (skills for work), 4.7 (Education for Sustainable Development, which includes citizenship, respect for human rights and cultural diversity), 12.8 (information for lifestyles in harmony with nature and sustainable development) and 13.3 (climate change awareness and education, among staff and the public).
2. Targets relating to the responsible use of natural resources and reduction of waste and pollution: 6.3 (improving water quality, which includes reducing pollution), 6.4 (efficient use of water), 7.2 (adopting renewable energy), 7.3 (improving energy efficiency), 11.2 (sustainable transport), 12.2 (sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources), 12.4 (environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, preventing their release into the environment), 12.5 (substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse), 12.6 (adopt sustainable practices and sustainability reporting), 12.7 (promote sustainable procurement) and 14.1 (reducing marine pollution).
3. These contribute to targets relating to conservation of water bodies (6.6), conservation of natural and cultural heritage (11.4), reducing the environmental impact of cities (11.6), the conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal areas (14.2), sustainable use and conservation of nature (15.1) and preventing degradation of natural habitats (15.5).
4. Compliance with regulations relating to the environment (16.B, promote and support laws and policies for sustainable development).
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 water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes in a good ecological condition.
- Information on, programmes relating to, and partnerships relating to water-related ecosystems drawing on collections and collections-based institutions in place, to support protection of these as effective nature-based solutions and ecosystem services.
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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:
- 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 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 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:
- Proportion of marine and coastal areas in a good ecological condition.
- Numbers of educational and awareness-raising programmes, research activities, and partnerships drawing on collections aiming to support protection of marine and coastal areas.
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Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion of terrestrial and inland freshwater systems in a good ecological condition.
- Information on, educational programmes, collections development, research and partnerships relating to terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems drawing on collections in place.
- Policies relating to collections and their use aligned with international agreements for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
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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:
- 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.