I recently read Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams’ The Book of Hope, in which Abrams interviews Jane about her life and work and they unpack the meaning of ‘hope’ in the current global context.
Throughout, Jane emphasises that everything in the natural world is deeply interconnected, and that small actions can create big differences. She uses the example of the disappearance and subsequent re-introduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. With the wolves gone, the entire ecosystem fell into disarray, but with their re-introduction to the area, balance was restored, and many species of flora and fauna were returned to status quo. Goodall then relates this story to how the fragility of the ecosystem affects people by discussing a community in Tanzania altered by small actions.
The Jane Goodall Institute approached communities and the Tanzanian government to ask what they could do to help impoverished communities. People were desperate and were decimating their local ecosystems in order to sell resources and make a living. The ‘Tacare’ program thus began, in which people loaned and planted trees, protecting water resources. They were also able to obtain microloans to start their own small businesses. Jane emphasizes that the focus here was on the people, and realizing that helping the ecosystem also meant helping themselves. After the initial few years of the program, the people and the ecosystem were thriving. Change does not have to be overwhelmingly large to make a difference. Making small changes in daily practices may have surprisingly large future benefits.
As I circle my point around to cultural heritage and conservation, I’m sure you can guess that the connection I’m trying to make is that there are small but meaningful changes within the conservation ‘ecosystem’ that can encourage the entire system to flourish. There may never be a perfect solution to creating more ‘sustainable’ methods, but small changes create ripple effects, some that may not ever have been considered.
What are the holes in the conservation ecosystem currently that make it resemble Yellowstone without wolves? Beyond the obvious use of non-renewable materials for much of our daily practices, a major roadblock is the burden of responsibility that many conservators and adjacent groups take on, leaving them feeling burnt out. Perhaps without intending to, many conservators exist in silos without the support of wider groups, and this could be for any number of reasons, but I would wager that burn out and over-extension is one of them. As such, this leaves professionals unable to research, test and implement the changes that can have a positive impact.
The idea of sustainable development has expanded in recent years to recognize the “inseparable linkages between environment and society. [i]” Creating a working environment that encourages a more feasible work-life balance can encourage more mental space and bandwidth for better and more dedicated work and research. This allows for more clear-headed decision making and presents the opportunity for new ideas and growth from a sustainable perspective.
Though museums and conservators are often trying their absolute best to adapt to climate-friendlier approaches to practice, I do not believe that the onus is on the individual conservator to make change, or on one group or one committee, however important individual action might be. “Progress begets more progress” as Leah Cardamore Stokes says in All We Can Save. New ideas and innovations don’t just stop once they’ve started. They build. As new materials and new methods are discovered and tested, these ideas will be built on continuously. The importance of community, and sharing ideas, sharing equipment, and sharing space has become increasingly prevalent. In this way, a true global network or ‘ecosystem’ is achieved, where every part of the conservation community and the wider GLAM community create an ecosystem that functions seamlessly, where resources are shared, research is done, and then built upon.
As the lone wolves (bear with me- no pun intended… twice) that we appear to be in conservation, treatments have frequently been undertaken under the cloak of secrecy, with an unwillingness to share ideas, materials, or methods. As we continue to recognize the importance of community, the boldness of sharing has allowed the GLAM community to create an ‘ecosystem’ in which we have: realized that narrow indoor climate parameters are not as ideal as we thought (enter Bizot and ASHRAE), greener solvents are being tested, materials and equipment are being shared rather than new materials purchased, and biobased adhesives and more localized methods are being revived to encourage more sustainable and local material acquisition. One-size-fits-all approaches do not reduce the impact of climate change, and often don’t work as well as you want them to, but taking the information and research provided by others and applying methodology to local circumstances just might.
In the book Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility edited by Solnit, R. and Young Lutunatabua, T., Edward R. Carr states: “Effective climate action speaks to local circumstances– the local environment, economy, and society. Our climate future will emerge through local politics’ operating in the context of national policies and global initiatives.”[ii] In the realm of conservation this is evident in the adoption of Bizot protocols and the use of ASHRAE for interior climates, which focus on working with the local climate instead of against it. Museums are also more often taking action locally as spaces for education on the climate crisis as well creating third spaces for cooling down in extreme heat, as we have seen this summer of 2026.
We are living in a time where hope is dwindling, and frankly it is understandable. Some may even wonder if preserving the past while the future is questionable is worth the effort. In her chapter in All We Can Save, Emily Johnston puts it very simply: “Do the thing, even if you think it isn’t going to matter. Doing things help you feel less demoralized. You did something. And then you can do another something[iii].” Simply because it feels better to try and do something than to do nothing at all. Adaptation is a process, not an outcome, and it will of course take time[iv]. Connecting with others and encouraging processes that may not be perfect, but are “less bad” than what has previously been used is as good a start as any[v].
Conservation practices can be sustainable, without sacrificing the quality of the preservation work being accomplished. Sustainable development is an achievable goal, and much like the Tacare program that Jane Goodall started, it truly does take a village to implement change.
In writing this blog, I wanted to inspire hope in a future that we can create as cultural heritage professionals, and I hope that it comes across as encouragement rather than a soapbox of coulds and shoulds. I also wanted to bring certain issues to the fore. Climate change is our reality, but we can do what we can to preserve, conserve, and restore our way to a better future.
If you are feeling a little hopeless, don’t know where to start, would like to start a conversation, share your thoughts, or would like assistance in creating a sustainable future, please get in touch with me!
Here are some resources I have found helpful:
Creative Climate Action Checklist: From Overwhelm to Action
https://measure.galleryclimatecoalition.org/ – The GCC Carbon Calculator
Listen to the Green Tea podcast or watch the Conversations with Changemakers series by the American Institute for Conservation’s Sustainability Committee to learn more about what people are doing to make cultural heritage preservation more sustainable.
A small glimpse into the conservation ecosystem:
Conservators, conservation education and educators, museums, galleries, private practices, distributors, artists, conservation scientists, conservation technicians, art handlers, facilities management, couriers, security teams…. let me know if I’m missing anyone!
[i] Powter, A., & Ross, S. (2005). Integrating environmental and cultural sustainability for heritage properties. APT Bulletin: The Journal of Preservation Technology, 36(4), 5–11.
[ii] Carr, E. R. (2023). We are not doomed to climate chaos. In R. Solnit & T. Young Lutunatabua (Eds.), Not too late: Changing the climate story from despair to possibility (pp. 28–31). Haymarket Books.
[iii] Johnston, E. (2020). Loving a vanishing world. In A. E. Johnson & K. K. Wilkinson (Eds.), All we can save: Truth, courage, and solutions for the climate crisis (pp. 256–265). One World.
[iv] Bavishi, J. K. (2020). A tale of three cities. In A. E. Johnson & K. K. Wilkinson (Eds.), All we can save: Truth, courage, and solutions for the climate crisis (pp. 157–164). One World.
[v] Hernandez, C. (2013). The green challenge’: Incorporating sustainable practices and materials into collections care [Master’s thesis, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York]. FIT Institutional Repository. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/982
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