ICOM ESTABLISHES THE WORKING GROUP ON
SUSTAINABILITY

Paris, 6 september 2018
The international community first addressed the concept of sustainability in the Brundtland
Report Our Common Future, commissioned by the UN and published in 1987. In 2015, boththe Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement were adopted. Even with thesemeasures, the world’s population is currently consuming the equivalent of 1.6 planets a year a state of affairs that cannot continue. The nature of this global challenge requires a collective
response across all sectors and scales.
As representative of the global museum community, the vision of the International Council ofMuseums (ICOM) is a world where the importance of natural and cultural heritage isuniversally valued. Today, more than ever, museums face unique challenges related to social,economic, and ecological issues. While serving as witnesses of the past and guardians ofhumanity’s treasures for future generations, museums play a key role in development througheducation and democratisation.
In this context, ICOM has established a Working Group on Sustainability. The Working
Group’s mission is to help ICOM consider how to mainstream Sustainable Development Goals
and the Paris Agreement across its range of activities, and to support its members and member
museums to contribute constructively in upholding the Sustainable Development Goals andtowards climate change adaptation and mitigations.
Museums offer an existing global infrastructure. They are uniquely placed to facilitatecollective action by building networks, raising public awareness, and supporting research andknowledge creation. They can enhance sustainability and climate change education by working
with and empowering communities to bring about change to ensure an habitable planet,social justice and equitable economic exchanges for the long term.

ICOM | Working Group on Sustainability / press releaseChaired by Morien Rees (Varanger Museum, Oslo, Norway), the working group is composedof members from various regions of the world who have been actively committed to addressingthese issues in the museum and cultural heritage sectors. They will be guided by the principlesof the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, both adopted in 2015, andthe three related moral imperatives: satisfying human needs, ensuring social justice andrespecting environmental limits.
The ICOM Working Group on Sustainability will consider different approaches to aspects ofsustainability. It will consider the museums’ potential roles in cross-sectorial sustainability
initiatives: through their collections, as information resources, as communicators, aseducators, as facilitators, as activists and advocates, and as users of natural resources.
The Working Group is expected to deliver its recommendations in 2019, at the 25th ICOMTriennial Conference which will take place in Kyoto, Japan.
The members of the working group are:Morien Rees, Chair (Varanger Museum, Norway)
Fiona Cameron (Institute of Culture and Society, University of Western Sydney, Australia)
Yacyara Froner (UFMG - The Federal University of Minas Gerais, DAPL, Brazil)
Daniel Inoque (Institute of Arts and Cultural Heritage of Mozambique, Mozambique)
Robert Janes (Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice, Canada)
Emlyn Koster (North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, United States)
Michele Lanzinger (MUSE Museo delle Scienze, Italy)
Henry McGhie (Manchester Museum, United Kingdom)
Jenny Newell (Australian Museum, Australia)
Diana Pardue (Statue of Liberty NM and Ellis Island, National Park Services, United States)
Caitlin Southwick, Secretary (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Deborah Thiagaraian (DakshinaChitra, India)
Paloma Salgado Tonda (Interactive Museum of Economics (MIDE), Mexico)
Zhao Yang (China Science and Technology Museum, China)
For more information : ICOMSustainability@gmail.com +31 6 12 92 09 80
Contact person in the General Secretariat : Marie Claverie marie.claverie@icom.museum

ICOM | Working Group on Sustainability / press release