Abstract
Museums have left behind their history as mere warehouses, curators, and art exhibitors. Its cultural and educational functions, intrinsically linked to heritage, have expanded. Theoretically, they have become transmedia communication spaces open to everyone and committed to society and, therefore, to sustainability. The commitment now regarding education delves into the issue of learning, a more participatory process than classic education that is unidirectional and with paternalistic nuances. After renewing their concept, where joint work with the community is emphasized, the museums are assuming their new challenge: sustainability, where governance, the environment, and human capital are the axes of work to achieve a better coexistence on the planet. Thus, the museums that have been involved in exhibitions or activities around fashion invest in transferring knowledge about sustainability in this sector.
TopIntroduction
Fifteen years after its last update and after long debates at the international level, the General Assembly of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) announced in August 2022 the new museum concept:
A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets, and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, and museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally, and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection, and knowledge sharing” (ICOM, 2022, s/p).
By their very original definition, museums have sustainability at their heart. Its function of conserving heritage to guarantee access for the next generations is a very broad sense of sustainability. So, with a renewed and amplified meaning, museum institutions must lead in building a better planet through joint work with the community.
In addition to their work in the preservation, conservation, exhibition, and dissemination of the tangible and intangible heritage of the planet, these organizations must become a fundamental ally to educate the population on issues currently sensitive: environment, human development, and corporate/institutional governance. In this sense, Garzón Castrillón and Ibarra Mares comment that sustainability goes far beyond generating actions to preserve the environment; it invites us to change our lifestyle, in the disproportionate consumption of resources and that significant changes are generated in the social (2014: 54). Thus, to dimension these needs, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) defined 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose purpose is joint work to eradicate poverty, protect the environment and guarantee peace and prosperity for all the inhabitants of the planet. For this reason, it is essential that museums understand that they are a key element, given their cultural and educational nature, for the achievement of the SDGs that are part of the goals established in the 2030 Agenda, the agreement to which most of the countries of the world (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The Sustainable Development Goals
Since its appearance in the 18th century, museums have been forced to adapt to different social realities. They have faced revolutions, wars, and social and political crises in short. And as part of this deep commitment to the people, the museums were ready to generate suggestions and recommendations while formulating the SDGs to be part of this new transformation of the public work of the society. However, as highlighted by the Spanish Network for Sustainable Development (REDS), when the goals of the 2030 Agenda were established, “it did not incorporate a specific SDG that would place culture as an essential element for sustainable development” (2021, 9). This situation has made it difficult for museums to incorporate these sustainability goals in an expeditious manner because they have had to understand how to draw lines of work that address or meet the challenges of the SDGs. Garthe (2022, 14) points out: “What is bad for the planet is also bad for museums,” referring to the urgent need to understand sustainability as a broader, global concept. Inaction in the face of the planet's social, institutional, and environmental problems will only generate more negative consequences for museums.
Sustainability currently plays a mere secondary role in most of the institutions of our organization. While some exhibitions, repositories, and museums have different approaches to improving their ecological or carbon footprint, there are other, more far-reaching implications related to understanding sustainability as a core value for the museum industry that is often overlooked. One of the main challenges is to take advantage of the good practices of isolated institutions to offer a coherent framework that synchronizes measures that contribute to improving sustainability in all areas of museum operations (Garthe, 2020: s/p).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Prosumer: The combination of the words consumer and producer, which describes the new leading role assumed by the receivers of the transmedia communication process, where they become a key part of the construction and dissemination of the story or narrative. This audience reaches different elements of the narrative through different platforms, articulates it like pieces of a puzzle, translates it into its code, and shares it. The use of digital communication platforms is its main dissemination tool, but “voice to voice” is also a widely used resource.
Sustainability: In general terms, is the process through which the requirements of citizens are met, without harming the resources that should be allocated to the care of the next generations. This fulfills the particularity of including elements such as economic development, environmental protection, and the generation of social well-being.
Transmedia Communication: The process through which a story is told through multiple platforms (analog and digital media), which leads the user to connect the fragments arranged on these supports to reconstruct the complete narrative, becoming a leading actor in this process. The receiver does not become a pure consumer of the message but rather helps in its construction and dissemination. Through communicative bricolage, you take the content, translate it into your language, and share it with your environment.
Circularity: Model through which fashion production seeks to take advantage of the resources already existing in the fashion system and new resources are not generated. Avoiding pollution, eliminating textile waste, taking advantage of products and supplies already available in the industry, extending the useful life of garments, recycling, and regenerating natural resources are part of the elements that promote circularity in fashion.
Fashion System: The set of people (natural and legal) that make up the entire business sector dedicated to fashion. It is considered a system because everyone contributes to the making of the industry, its advances and setbacks, and its advantages and disadvantages.
ESG model: This model becomes a reference standard that guides institutions that work towards sustainability within their operations. It obeys the acronym in English of Environment, Social Impact and Governance. This model seeks to measure, monitor, and control any impact that the organization has on the planet, human rights, society, and even its competition.
Governance: These are all actions that museums must undertake to meet their institutional objectives, where special attention is paid to the management of corporate reputation and social responsibility, to generate ethical management with a positive impact on the community, the environment, and human capital. It is defined as the institution's way of acting with attention to its different stakeholders, where the strengthening of transparency is essential, not only through the daily communication of the actions undertaken for the benefit of society but also in the issuance of periodic reports and reports that demonstrate the true impact of companies on society, the country, and the planet.