“Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice” now has a blog and a Facebook Group

In 2017 a new initiative was formed in Canada to help support museums that aim to

address one of the most challenging issues of our era – climate change. The Coalition of

Museums for Climate Justice is guided by a group of museum leaders in Canada who

believe that museums can play a vital role in mobilizing public understanding and action

that will help mitigate climate change and adapt to the impacts that are already in play.

Check out the blog that has been set up – at

https://coalitionofmuseumsforclimatejustice.wordpress.com. Also, for those of you who

currently use Facebook, or are considering joining this free networking tool, you can join

in the active dialogue that is occurring daily within the Facebook group “Coalition of

Museums for Climate Justice” -

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MuseumsforClimateJustice/. This is a closed group,

but those with an interest are most welcome. As of June 2017, the group has over 170

members.

As a museum professional who has been actively exploring the relationship between

culture, sustainability and museums for over 20 years, I see climate change as a force that

threatens the very nature of life on the planet. Climate change itself is arguably a

symptom of dysfunctional cultural forces (‘culture’ broadly defined to include how

human beings live their lives – socially, economically and through our relationships with

the natural world). This means that the solutions will not be found primarily by focusing

on the environment – but rather in changes that can be made to human values, attitudes,

behaviours, traditions and systems within our cultures. Ecomuseums have always

approached their work holistically, therefore they are well positioned to help create the

kinds of foundational cultural shifts that are required to address the spectrum of cultural

needs and opportunities that range from the individual, through groups, communities,

organizations, regions, nations and ultimately the planet.

Douglas Worts