to the Earth crisis. We use artistic approaches and objects to help people talk about this crisis, explore it in relation to emotions, places and histories, and to open imaginations to solutions.
l Vision: to become a resilient distrib- uted organisation, a catalyst for radical system change, seeding regenerative culture everywhere and online, with partners and members running activa- tions across the UK and beyond.
l Values: holistic and ecocentric worldview; compassionate, participa- tory and intersectional with people; ‘possitopian’, not utopian or dystopian; planet-kind in our practice; non-hierar- chical in our team structure.
Bridget wants to encourage more people to consider how they can take action – making a stand in a way that is both comfortable and meaningful. She says: “Climate Museum UK is an experiment in what can be achieved with almost no resources – no building, no collecting budget, mostly just ideas and people. “I think that a lot is possible if you pledge together to take meaningful action and keep holding each other to account. This might mean pledging to invite many voices, to tell truths and to be a platform for science communica- tion. It might mean pledging to be the best model possible for de-carbonising your work and building. It might mean pledging to see your service users as communities of need, who need support to cope and to be more resilient as food prices rise, as pandemics affect them or as climate impacts hit.
“You can’t do everything but facing the reality of the climate and ecological emergency is the first big step.”
Adapt to fit
Taking that first step and then following up by supporting others and being sup- ported is crucial, and Bridget wants the Climate Museum UK to inspire all three of those actions – delivering a sustained and sustainable model that can be repli- cated and repeated.
Building networks of support is a clear goal – not just in one sector. Again, find- ing one model that works and adapting to fit offers a simple and effective route. Bridget’s association with the likes of Culture Unstained, Culture Declares Emergency and Museums for the Future demonstrates how cultural activity can start to deliver positive change. Culture Unstained highlights and campaigns against fossil fuel company sponsorship of the arts. It raises con- cerns about “arts washing”, where big oil companies associate their brand with galleries, exhibitions and museums. Museums for the Future hopes to “envision a world in which every museum is climate-conscious and a bold advocate of the Paris Agreement, drawing on
36 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Bridget McKenzie, founder of the Climate Museum.
their rich cultural capital and storytelling expertise to engage their audiences and communities with relevant and compelling messages that drive positive change to prevent ecological breakdown and secure a sustainable, equitable and culturally diverse future for all.”
And Culture Declares Emergency offers the opportunity for institutions and individuals that show support for environ- mental action. It provides a kitemark for those who declare “climate and ecological emergency”, and calls for all those com- mitted to the cause to tell the truth, take action and seek justice.
Libraries matter
Bridget says that while these initiatives look to be an influence in the traditional
arts and cultural sector, there is scope to expand. She looks at public libraries, which enjoy a privileged position on high streets up and down the country, and points to the power they could harness. She says: “Libraries matter because they’re present and ‘everyday’. While hyperlocal they’re also well networked to local governments and academic insti- tutions and to the library profession as a whole. It would be great to see the emer- gence of a group called Libraries Declare to join the ‘ecology of declarers’ forming alongside Culture Declares Emergency.” Already libraries show how the ‘circu-
lar economy’ can work. Sharing items that may only be used occasionally or once, means less of the earth’s resources are used in their creation. The Circular economy is a concept that tries to move a way from an economic model that is centred on ‘take-make-waste’ as a means of growth. Instead there is a vision that the economy can be built on a model of re-use, reparability and recycling. Already there is some movement towards this through the ‘library of things’ movement, which sees expensive and rarely used items such as tools being made available for loans.
Bridget says these ideas fit neatly with positive environmental action, saying: “I’d also love to see libraries being places for the commons of things, of tech equip- ment, or plants plus plant knowledge, or
Culture Declares Emergency at the Tate Modern with Zena Edwards. April-May 2021
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