How Museums are Becoming Greener

Museums have some catching up to do when it comes to sustainability and climate protection. A trinational project at the University of Würzburg with partner universities from Tunisia and Egypt aims to find solutions.

When it comes to sustainability, most people probably think of things like mobility and energy transition, organic farming and avoiding waste. However, in addition to these central pillars, the topic also plays an important role in countless other areas, such as art and culture.

Museums are a particular focus here. In 2021, German government representatives from the federal and state governments, together with the German Museums Association, decided on an initiative for more climate protection and sustainability in museums.

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) is now launching a project together with two North African universities that is dedicated to precisely these goals: GreenMuseumHub: Sustainable Futures for Museums and Heritage Sites. The aim is to encourage a lively exchange of experiences, challenges, and possible solutions.

A Considerable CO2 Footprint

Guido Fackler, Professor of Museology at JMU, is leading the trinational project. He is aware of the challenges museums face when it comes to sustainability: "Unfortunately, museums are often among the biggest CO2 polluters among cultural institutions. There are various reasons for this. For example, the climatic requirements for certain exhibits or the structural conditions in large old buildings, which are often anything but optimal in terms of energy."

Museums consume a lot of energy for heating and air conditioning, as many exhibits require special climatic conditions. Added to this is the fact that exhibitions are often staged with unsustainable materials that often end up as waste after they are finished.

"Possible approaches would be slightly less stringent temperature management, the use of more ecological materials or even more modular components that could then be reused for later exhibitions. We want to work with our partners over the next few years to find out what works, including in terms of social sustainability," says the museologist.

The GreenMuseumHub will work out exactly what such adaptations and new developments could look like through exchange, training, and scientific research.

Experience from Three Countries

Guido Fackler was able to gain Helwan University in Cairo and the Université de la Manouba in Tunis as international partners. The exchange takes place in regular video conferences, workshops, and courses. In addition, they will meet once a year for the GreenMuseumCamp. The first edition in cooperation with WueLab took place in Würzburg at the beginning of December and laid a promising foundation for the project with workshops, digitally transmitted lectures translated into Arabic and an excursion.

Professor Lamia Ben Abid says of the particular challenges regarding sustainability in Tunisia: "Tunisia has committed itself to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Renewable energies, waste reduction and recycling are also major issues here. As are the effects of global warming. So, we have many common starting points." In this regard, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has already selected several museums that will serve as pioneers, reports Professor Aly Omar Aly Abdalla.
In addition to the three universities, the network so far includes around 25 museums, partners from industry, NGOs, an educational institution, a state authority, and two higher education institutions.

Exhibition as a Conclusion

In addition to making museums and heritage sites more sustainable, the aim is also to discuss how the topic of sustainability can be communicated to the general public in exhibitions.

To this end, a multilingual pop-up exhibition in physical and digital form is to be designed over the three-year funding phase by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

At JMU, project coordinator Elisabeth Greifenstein is also planning to closely link the topic with museology teaching: "We can well imagine offering hybrid seminars and final theses as part of the project and are also trying to create exchange opportunities for students through other programs."