why rethink museums?

Museums are often seen as static and backwards-looking, more concerned with the past than with the present and the future. While this impression is slowly changing, museums are not the most obvious subject to focus on when thinking about climate action.

The urgent challenges of a warming planet can seem quite distant from the contemplative world of museums. Climate change however is much more than simply an environmental or scientific concern. It impacts on all aspects of social, cultural, political and economic life, including museums. Questions of sponsorship, carbon emissions, waste, transport and the need for more sustainable buildings are currently being debated across the sector. At the same time, museums have an important role to play in communicating the climate crisis to the public. For many people they remain a trusted source of information, with the capacity to inspire real change in individuals and society. Far from being relics of the past, museums are increasingly called upon to help shape a more just and sustainable future for all.

This site gathers together a range of thinking about how museums might address the challenges of a warming world. Divided into three sections - Rethink, Reimagine and Mobilise - the site includes research material from the project team, a suite of concepts imagining possible museum futures in the climate change era, and key resources to inspire radical climate action in the sector and beyond. More material will be added to the site in the run up to COP26, the United Nation's Climate Change Conference, which will be held in Glasgow in November 2021.

The project began life as a design and ideas competition, launched on International Museum Day 2020. Responding to the two main pillars of climate action - mitigation and adaptation - the competition asked how museums could help society make the deep, transformative changes needed to achieve a net-zero or zero-carbon world. Rather than focus on a specific location or type of museum, the competition invited proposals that aimed to unsettle and subvert the very foundations of museological thinking to support and encourage meaningful climate action. We specifically asked for design and concept proposals that were radically different from the ‘traditional’ museum, or that explored new ways for traditional museums to operate. The responses, which could address any aspect of museum design and activity, ranged from the fantastical to the highly practical. You can see a selection of these concepts in the Reimagine section of the site, or download the original competition brief here:

Following the competition, eight teams were invited to develop their ideas for an exhibition at Glasgow Science Centre, the official 'Green Zone' for COP26. The exhibition is integrated within the Powering the Future display at the science centre to highlight the crucial role cultural institutions have to play in shaping the world of tomorrow.