Touring & Sustainability
STANDARD: Assess the environmental footprint of touring exhibitions and make sustainable choices where possible.
Minimum Practice
Meet all agreed environmental sustainability requirements and commitments set by partner organisations, funders, and stakeholders in the delivery of a touring exhibition. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and regulations are Australia’s primary national environmental legislation. This Act compels employers and businesses to identify, assess and mitigate environmental risks associated with their projects.
Best Practice
Integrate environmental impact considerations into all feasibility assessments and planning. Prioritise reducing the overall environmental footprint by reducing waste, and through the reuse and recycling of materials wherever possible. Make informed decisions about transport, materials, and touring models, ensuring sustainability measures are achievable for all stakeholders both practically and financially.
Guidance
Considering how touring exhibitions will impact the environment is a growing concern for the sector. This may include investigating sustainable options for materials, calculating your carbon emissions to determine how to pay carbon offsets, or examining different touring models with less transport or travel. The following resources provide information and tools to support the integration of sustainability into your touring practice.
Ready To Use Support
ARUP – Circulate
This digital tool assists with measuring greenhouse gas emissions for events and exhibitions. Emission calculation can be used to then determine the cost of offsetting the project.
Climate Active – Carbon Offsets
Information on how to purchase carbon offsets to compensate emissions, support verified projects, and help achieve carbon neutrality goals.
The Exhibitions Group (UK) – Rethinking Touring Exhibitions
A tool to help reduce the environmental impact of touring exhibitions compiled by The Exhibitions Group, UK. It is a practical resource to reduce the environmental impact of exhibitions, loans and tours created in collaboration with the Design Museum and Art Fund.
The Exhibitions Group (UK) – Sustainable Exhibitions Checklist
A checklist of areas of activity to weigh up the most sustainable and economically advantageous approach before, during and after touring an exhibition by The Exhibitions Group, UK.
Useful Resources & Further Reading
Arts on Tour – Green Touring
The Green Touring Initiative by Arts on Tour has produced resources and events, as well as stimulated productive conversations in the broader touring sector about making green choices. This website hosts their achievements, including a Green Touring Toolkit available to download.
Sabrina Roesner & RPGNSW – Places For The Future
This toolkit provides environmental sustainability best practice for the NSW arts and cultural sector with case studies, sustainable materials solutions, and helpful resources. This toolkit was developed by Sabrina Roesner with support from Regional and Public Galleries NSW through the Alan Sisley Memorial Fellowship.
Art Fund UK – Reducing Environmental Impact in public programming
This resource is an outcome of a collaboration between Art Fund, THE HERDS, and the Design Museum in the UK. This practical guide to environmental responsibility has been created for museum learning professionals.
Further questions or
broken links?
Contact your State
or Territory NETS Australia agency