Sustainable Development in Museums

Museums and Chill

We are excited to share the latest episode of the Museums and Chill podcast, where we talk about Sustainable Development in Museums with the team behind the ICOM Award.

In this episode, we discuss with the ICOM Award team about what Sustainable Development means and how it connects to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You will learn about inspiring stories of museums that are leading the way in making a positive impact on their communities and the planet.

ICOM Award

The ICOM Award is the first global award organised by ICOM that specifically acknowledges and honors sustainable development practices within the museum community. We believe in the power of museums to drive positive change and contribute meaningfully to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The award aims to encourage the participation of Museums in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and shed light on the concrete actions undertaken in that direction. The award process aims to be a platform to communicate the diverse ways that museums are working towards sustainable development and the SDGs.

The upcoming award ceremony will take place at the 2025 ICOM General Conference.

THIS EPISODE’S GUESTS

Rachelle KALEE is part of the Capacity Building - Museum and Society department at ICOM and coordinates the ICOM Award.

Henry McGhie runs the UK-based museum consultancy Curating Tomorrow, which works to accelerate and strengthen the contributions of museums and similar institutions to sustainable development. Why? Because museums present many opportunities to support inclusive sustainable development, incorporating human rights, peacebuilding, climate action, biodiversity conservation, Disaster Risk Reduction and more. Henry was a member of the ICOM Sustainability Working Group from 2018-23, and he has been supporting ICOM to develop the Award for Sustainable Development Practice in Museums. He also works as a consultant on ICCROM's Our Collections Matter programme, supporting sustainable development practices among heritage professionals.

José Luiz Pederzoli has a background in polymer chemistry and paper-based heritage. He worked as a conservation scientist at the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (1997-2003) and ICCROM (2005-2008). Since 2005, he has been working internationally on risk management for cultural heritage, contributing to the development of new methodologies and tools, as well as to build capacity in the heritage sector. José Luiz is back at ICCROM since 2018, where he manages the Strategic Planning Unit and a portfolio of projects on risk management and sustainable development for collections-based organizations. He coordinates ICCROM’s Our Collections Matter initiative, launched in 2020 to “connect the dots” between collections-based work and the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions expressed by our podcast’s guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions or views of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and its bodies and entities. The content provided in this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. ICOM and its bodies and entities do not endorse or take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed by guests during the podcast. Listeners are encouraged to conduct their own research and seek professional advice when making decisions based on the information discussed in this podcast.