Last modified: 31 Jul 2023 11:19
Put ecologically responsible, socially conscious knowledge and practice at the top of your agenda with Museums and Sustainable Futures. With our thematic lectures and practical activities, you’ll gain core experience in this key area of contemporary museum work.
Between 31st October and 12 November 2021, the UK will host COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, in Glasgow. But in June 2021, the Climate Change Committee’s annual report noted that the UK Government has done little to deliver on its ambitious 2030 emissions and 2050 net zero goals. Furthermore, the outbreak of COVID-19 which reached global pandemic status in 2020, is indicative of the vulnerable, and currently unsustainable, position of Western industrial economic and social systems. Museums and Sustainable Futures aims to give students the knowledge and capacity to deal with some of these difficult questions. By exploring a variety of themes and case studies in this are the course aims to offer experience and confidence in this important part of contemporary practice. The course is ideal for emerging professionals, early career practitioners, and established professionals keen on upskilling, and examining the possibilities for museums in a sustainably minded future.
| Study Type | Postgraduate | Level | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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There is a growing conversation in the museums sector about sustainability, visible in volumes such as Curating the Future and Climate Change and Museum Futures, in the Museums Associations Sustainability Campaign, and in ICOM’s adoption of Agenda 2030 at the Kyoto meeting in 2019. Museums, as educational and politically significant institutions, have a substantial role to play in the success or failure of a sustainable future.
This context implies an increased need for knowledgeable and experienced practitioners whose expertise encompasses both sustainability and museums. In order to nurture such practitioners, at all levels of the sector, there is a need for specific academic and practical training, which Museums and Sustainable Futures will offer.
Key topics on the course include:
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
Select a museum object. Use it as the centre for a short descriptive essay about its relationship to sustainability and museum potential. This assessment is modelled on the Objects in View essays in the key text Curating the Future by Newell, Robin and Wehrner. Essay will be submitted online. Feedback will be given through Grademark. |
Word Count | 1000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Understand | Discuss key issues in museums and sustainability practice |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Debate and argue on philosophies and approaches to sustainable practice |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 80 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
An individually researched and written case study and critical evaluation of the sustainable practices of a museum of your choice. Essay will be submitted online. Feedback will be given through Grademark. |
Word Count | 4000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Analyse | Assess the sustainability of museum institutions |
| Factual | Remember | Describe the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals, and how they apply to museums |
| Factual | Understand | Discuss key issues in museums and sustainability practice |
| Procedural | Create | Design sustainable solutions for museum institutions. |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Debate and argue on philosophies and approaches to sustainable practice |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
For the Object essay, the candidate is permitted a second attempt. Their mark would be RP (resit pass) or RF (resit fail) Students will submit online. Feedback will be given through Grademark. |
Word Count | 1000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 80 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
For the case study essay, the candidate is permitted a second attempt. Their mark would be RP (resit pass) or RF (resit fail). Students will submit online. Feedback will be given through Grademark. |
Word Count | 4000 | |
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Understand | Discuss key issues in museums and sustainability practice |
| Factual | Remember | Describe the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals, and how they apply to museums |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Debate and argue on philosophies and approaches to sustainable practice |
| Conceptual | Analyse | Assess the sustainability of museum institutions |
| Procedural | Create | Design sustainable solutions for museum institutions. |
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