Sustainability and Museums
Museums have a lot to consider. They typically occupy energy-hungry buildings and have expanding collections, which they aim to keep in tightly-controlled environmental conditions. They often totally destroy old exhibitions and displays and replace them with new ones, with little reuse or recycling. Quality of service and ‘excellence’ sometimes seem less important than counting the number of visitors. Tourists, especially international tourists, are regarded as desirable visitors, in spite of the fact that tourism often involves extensive, energyconsuming travel. More locally, museums often launch short-term projects to build relationships with new audience groups, without a clear view of how the relationships will continue once the project funding ends. This resources discusses this issue.