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News Sustainability in Museums news 1|2010 NEWSLETTER OF THE NETWORK OF EUROPEAN MUSEUM ORGANISATIONS Sustainability in Museums Photos © Kjellgren Kaminsky AB Architecture Ulricehamm Visitors Centre, Sweden. Heating is produced through people and equipment, energy by solar cells on the roof. Interest and care for the environment other European museums each year it ecological system operates like a life is not a new phenomenon. In the early would, at least in the Netherlands, cycle. In an on marketing language 1970s Western Europe experienced a require the whole country to become a based concept of People, Planet, Profit, temporary oil shortage which caused museum depot by the middle of the institutions aim to balance these three ideas for energy saving and next century. elements in a sustainable way. And then sustainable energy to receive more In the past few years a number of there is ‘the natural step’, a system general attention. Then, in the early museums have become aware of the based on the principle of our planet 1980s, the United Nations established important and unavoidable issue of being a closed environmental system, the World Commission for Environment the earth’s natural resources slowly which will probably survive, but if and Development. In 1987 the report depleting. This year the Danish necessary, without us. for the first time clearly defined the Museums Association organised an Whatever our ideas on sustainability term ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable international conference in March to may be, the topic is here to stay. Our development’. In their widely adopted discuss sustainability in museums. very existence depends on it. Of course definition this means to develop the Some museums have become very we cannot precisely predict the impact planet in such way that future active in implementing sustainable of the current damaging developments to generations will not be harmed by our policies. Two years ago the UK the earth’s eco systems, but the truth is activities and moreover will be able to Museums Association organised that museums can no longer hide from fulfil their own needs. panels and debates on sustainability this fact either. In the light of economic What does sustainability mean to resulting in a report with recessions and more conservative museums? There are at least three recommendations and best practice governments in Europe, it is likely that ways of looking at it. One point of view examples. In that study, the notion of museums will have to prove in more regards a museum’s very existence as ‘social sustainability’ in relation to ways that their maintenance by public intrinsically sustainable. museums was also introduced. It funding is perfectly acceptable. The real means involving your local community challenge is for a shift in attitude to take into the core activities of your place whereby being a sustainable and Collecting and conserving museum. Finally one can define ‘green responsible organisation becomes “ for future generations is sustainability’ by which museums act something self-evident. And the good in an ecologically conscious way, news? It does not necessarily cost more; after all core business for saving energy and other resources in in fact in the long run it is likely to save museums. their day-to-day operational and money as well as the environment. So management processes. don’t wait and start right away with the Though one could question the People working in museums find obvious: involve your local community, practice of their unbridled urge to their inspiration for sustainable print less, print paper on both sides, collect new and more of the same. If development from all kinds of sources. save energy and thus save money and we extrapolated the number of objects Some embrace the principle of our planet too. that find their way into Dutch and ‘cradle-to-cradle’ whereby the By | Margriet de Jong news 2 1|2010 News from Europe’s Museums News from Page 2 LATVIA: Museum sector reacts to financial crisis Europe’s Museums In 2009, significant changes took place in the Latvian museum sector. The changes A Letter from the NEMO Page 3 resulted from a drop in public financing following the global economic crisis. Looking for Chairwoman a way forward, the Latvian government opted for structural reform and savings measures. NEMO Activities The structural reform of the Latvian museum sector was both an event of centralisa- tion as of decentralisation. A number of state museums were handed over to the juris- New Commissioner for Page 4 diction of local councils or independent institutions (e.g. universities or companies). In Culture Androulla Vassiliou the process of centralising the museums, larger institutions were created in the hope on the cultural heritage of increasing financial resources through the unification of supporting functions, such sector as administration, accounting, housekeeping, public relations and others. The decen- Museums and Page 5 tralisation of state museums, by handing them over to the jurisdiction of other sectors, Sustainability: was warranted due to the lack of state finances, while it also provided an opportunity Practice Examples to draw museum activities closer to their direct target audiences. In this way museum resources could be used more effectively, as well as providing a greater opportunity to An Interview with Page 6 secure the maintenance of museums by attracting new sources of funding. Jan Truszczy´nski Up until now structural reforms have allowed museums to maintain their range of ABOUT: Spain Page 8 visitor services and the number of permanent and temporary exhibitions. It is too early to comment whether reforms have given other awaited results such as improv- NEMO – The Network of European ing museum management and the quality of services. Only after analysing the results Museum Organisations is an independent a year on will we be able to tell if Latvia’s museums will be capable of sustaining network representing the European museum their activities within the available budget. State subsidies for museums in 2010 community. For more information about were reduced by an average of 50 percent. Museums drastically reduced staff NEMO, visit: www.ne-mo.org wages and reduced basic functions to a minimum. However, expenses concerning news infrastructure and maintenance have not changed. Paid museum services are expected to provide a significant amount of finance for securing museum activities. is produced by the German Museums Association The spending capacity of the local community has also been reduced, and the inten- sity of foreign tourism dropped in comparison to earlier years. The structural changes combined with the financial conditions presented a Editor: Anna Bas Backer Co-editor: Julia Pagel challenge to Latvia’s museums that drove them to reassess activities up until now Contributors: Anna Bas Backer, Maurice and look for new approaches. Thus the sector is using the crisis as an opportunity Davies, Leticia de Frutos, Janis Garjans, to develop qualitative museum activities. Margriet de Jong, Julia Pagel, Elizabeta Change has also affected the management of the Latvian museum sector. Petruša-Strukelj, Catherine Sustek, Jan According to what is set out in the Law on Museums, the management of the Truszczy´nski Design: Hannu Rinne museum sector is to be undertaken by the State Authority on Museums. In order to economise resources, the government made the decision to abolish the State Printing: MK Druck, Berlin, Germany Authority on Museums from January 1 2010, and its duties to be taken over by the Ministry of Culture. A Museums and Visual Art Section now functions in the Cultural NEMO News is also available in pdf format at Policy Department of the Ministry of Culture, with the task of continuing the role of the www.ne-mo.org State Authority of Museums. By | Janis Garjans Looking for MUSEUMpartners ICELAND: Cleaning up the volcanic ashes in EU-projects? The Skógar Museum, one of the largest municipal museums in Iceland, was Go to our website: considerably affected by the volcanic eruption of Mt Eyjafjallajökull. The ash permeated www.ne-mo.org sealed windows and doors and produced a thin layer of dust on the artefacts. In the open air areas of the museum mounds of ash had formed. With the support of the European As the volcanic ash is considered harmful a large clean-up operation has been Community budget line ‘Support for incited. Draped in masks and goggles, Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, general director of bodies active at European level in the field of culture’ the National Museum of Iceland, and Nathalie Jaqueminet, head of conservation at the National Museum, received help from ICOM Iceland and around 40 volunteers from different museums along with friends of the Skógar Museum. In the areas most affected the artefacts were covered with protective sheeting and “This project has been funded with measures were taken to prevent further support from the European Commission. dust to enter the buildings. The This publication reflects the views only of museum was closed during 17 days the author, and the Commission and has since been reopened. cannot be held responsible for any use Photo © Hans-Martin Moser which may be made of the information Cleaning ashes in the Skógar-Museum in Iceland By | Anna Bas Backer contained therein.” news 1|2010 3 A Letter from the NEMO Chairwoman The first part of 2010 is already fully Society Platform on Access to Culture in underway and a lot of activities on Brussels for which NEMO has been European policy level have been handled working since 2008. Within the precept by NEMO. of the ‘structured dialogue’, a process to During the network’s executive board’s allow civil society to provide effective meeting in June 2010 in Brussels, we input to the policy-making process and had the chance to talk to various take an active part in the implementation representatives of the European of the European Agenda for Culture, the Commission, the Parliament and the platform contributions will feed into the Executive Agency.
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