Actions for the future: determining sustainability efforts in practice in Arizona museums

ABSTRACT

Increasing concern for sustainability in the museum field has prompted researchers to provide recommended sustainability efforts for museums. Yet many do not implement efforts and the underlying causes for this are unclear. This project gathered data on Arizona museum sustainability efforts, views about sustainability, and factors that determined which efforts were implemented. Data were taken using an online survey and museum employee interviews. Results showed a disconnect between how researchers and practitioners conceptualized sustainability. Additionally, results revealed that factors that determined which efforts museums selected included challenges to implementing efforts, and ease of implementation. Museums did not implement efforts unless they were already part of everyday practice. Museums and related institutions can use these data to evaluate their sustainability practices and incorporate sustainability into museum processes. Researchers can use this information as a basis for reframing literature suggestions to incorporate practitioner viewpoints. Survey limitations impact the degree to which results can apply to all museums or related institutions.

KEYWORDS:

• Museums
• sustainability
• museum sustainability
• survey
• Arizona museums

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Emily Hedges works as a museum collections aide at Arizona State University. She previously worked as a teacher in Arizona and more recently has worked in museum repatriation and digitization of museum collections for the Center for Archaeology and Society Repository. She received her MA in museum studies from Arizona State University and her bachelor's degree in history from the University of Arizona. Her interests include museum education practices, museum sustainability, and information organization and access in museums

Notes

1 The Australian Museums and Galleries Association was formerly known as Museums Australia and Museums Galleries. They have been known by the current name since 2018.

2 A full list of publications drawn upon for this project can be found in the references page

3 Researchers have conceptualized sustainability as a concept influenced by multiple factors, with its different dimensions being interconnected. Different authors have divided sustainability into different dimensions. For example, Worts (2004) categorizes sustainability indicators into environmental, personal-societal, and economic dimensions (49), Pop and Borza (2016) categorize indicators into dimensions of personal, social, cultural, and natural environment (17), and Martin (2012) conceptualizes dimensions of sustainability into social, cultural, environmental, and economic (7–8). These dimensions can be defined in different ways, but are generally presented as interrelated within a broader definition of sustainability.

4 It is assumed that only institutions completed the survey, and that the 22 responses came from 22 individuals at 22 different institutions. The survey announcement reached a total of 909 email addresses, including 476 on the Museum Association of Arizona (MAA) listserv, but because the intended audience was institutions rather than individuals, only the 91 institutional members of the MAA were counted in the response rate. An independent survey announcement was sent to 17 museums for which accurate e-mail information could be located, which were not institutional members of the MAA, resulting in a total of 108 institutions contacted.

5 A total of three respondents completed the final survey question. Two responses consisted of feedback on the survey, which were not included in the analysis. The remaining respondent provided information about their sustainability efforts, which was deemed relevant to include in the final analysis.

6 Additionally, nine respondents selected the survey response ‘no efforts.’ Four followed the survey instructions and selected ‘not implementing,’ while the remaining five selected ‘currently implementing’ (Table 3, row 7). This implied that at least four respondents were taking no sustainability efforts. Despite these responses, it is unclear whether any respondents were actually not implementing any efforts, as all 22 survey respondents selected at least two other responses.

7 The survey used in this study asked museums how they rank the following dimensions of sustainability: environmental (efficient use of environmental resources), physical (efficient use of physical resources), economic (efficient use of financial resources), social (active social engagement and community participation),and cultural (emphasize community relationships and cultural diversity).

8 Interviews were analyzed in relation to the dimensions of sustainability that were presented in survey responses (Note 7).

9 Person A also discussed in detail Museum A’s focus on community sustainability in its policies and goals. Community sustainability was discussed in length after Person A was prompted to discuss other aspects of sustainability that may have been applicable to Museum A. The emphasis on environmental sustainability in the discussion does not claim that the museum only focused on environmental sustainability during the interview, but rather emphasizes that other conceptual dimensions of sustainability were not discussed until prompted.

10 Museum A hinted at sustainability being incorporated into policies, but the interview focused on efforts and actions among staff, and specific policies were not discussed.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, or publication of this work.