How To Skwish Your Museum: A Practical Guide to Sustainability

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO SUSTAINABILITY

HOW TO SKWISH YOUR MUSEUM


Alexandra Hatcher, Alexandra Hatcher Consulting Inc., Calgary

Lisa Making, Royal Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller

Hannah Chipman, Telephone Historical Centre, Edmonton


SWG Recommendations Report available to download: http://www.museums.ab.ca/media/34750/museumsswg_report_final.pdf

SUSTAINABILITY IS AN ORIENTATION, NOT A DESTINATION.

Bell, Masaoka, Zimmerman, Nonprofit Sustainability, 2010



SUSTAINABILITY

▸ Financial

▸ Environmental

▸ Health & Wellness

▸ Community Engagement

▸ Social Responsibility


TENSEGRITY

Tensegrity Structures are known for:

DEFINITION: maintaining structural stability, or integrity, through continual tensional forces - Buckminster Fuller

‣ Flexibility

‣ Agility

‣Resilience

‣ Strength


FINANCIAL

Connecting Mission Impact & Financial Return

PROFITABILITY

MIS

SIO

N I

MP

AC

T

Bell, Masaoka, Zimmerman,

“Strategic Imperatives”,

Nonprofit Sustainability, 2010


ENVIRONMENTAL

Respecting the interconnectedness of our environments.

Aaron Paquette, April 2013


ENVIRONMENTAL

Human Brain Blood Vessels River Tributaries City

Leaf Desert Palm of Hand

Aaron Paquette, April 2013

Respecting the interconnectedness of our environments.


HEALTH & WELLNESS

Contributing to positive quality of life.


COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Engaged in Community; Engaged with Community.

Archaeologist Jack Brink looks on as Blackfoot Elders conduct a blessing ceremony.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Alberta


SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Identifying community needs and

addressing those needs with the

intention of positive change.


SUSTAINABILITY

▸ Financial

▸ Environmental

▸ Health and Wellness




FINANCIAL

Get to know your restraints

FINANCIAL

Get to know the market


FINANCIAL

Get to know your organization


FINANCIAL

Be Patient



SUSTAINABILITY

▸ Financial

▸ Environmental

▸ Health and Wellness




ENVIRONMENTAL

ENVIRONMENTAL


ENVIRONMENTAL


ENVIRONMENTAL


ENVIRONMENTAL


ENVIRONMENTAL


ENVIRONMENTAL


ENVIRONMENTAL


ENVIRONMENTAL


ENVIRONMENTAL


WHAT’S NEXT?


ENVIRONMENTAL

“The other interesting thing, is that one

point that was made in that whole

sequence on extinction, is that 99% of

species that have ever existed are extinct.

So the question begs, how much of the

concern from scientists these days is well

placed concern, in terms of maybe being

accelerated by humans, and how much of

it is just a naturally occurring process?”

Interview Respondent 021


ENVIRONMENTAL

"We know there's major climatic changes, we're talking a

drop in mean annual temperature of at least six degrees

Celsius in the time span of about 100,000 years, that's

super fast." Dr. François Therrien


ENVIRONMENTAL


SUSTAINABILITY

▸ Financial

▸ Environmental

▸Health & Wellness




HEALTH & WELLNESS

Defined in the SWG Report:

“the condition or state of being well, contented and satisfied with life …

Well-being (and so quality of life) has several components, including

physical, mental, social, [intellectual], and spiritual. Well-being and quality

of life are also used in a collective sense to describe how well society

satisfies people’s wants and needs.”;

“a shared sense of meaning and purpose is the single attitude most

strongly associated with community well-being. The process of arriving at

collective meanings is central to the health of a community.”

Alberta Museums Association, 2013


HEALTH & WELLNESS

Health is a state of complete physical, mental

and social well-being and not merely the

absence of disease or infirmity.

Wellness is an active process of becoming

aware of and making choices toward

a healthy and fulfilling life.

World Health Organization

defined…


HEALTH & WELLNESS

Community

Organization

Individual

INTERCONNECTEDNESS


INDIVIDUAL HEALTH & WELLNESS

Dimensions of Wellness:

Social

Physical

Intellectual

Emotional

Spiritual

Occupational

Environmental

Financial


ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH & WELLNESS

Sustained organizational health is

among the most powerful assets

an organization can build.



McKinsey, 2014

DIRECTION

ACCOUNTABILITY COORDINATION

AND CONTROL

EXTERNAL

ORIENTATION LEADERSHIP

INNOVATION AND

LEARNING

CAPABILITIES MOTIVATION

CULTURE AND

CLIMATE

- Role Clarity

- Performance Contracts

- Consequence Management

- Personal Ownership

- Shared Vision

- Strategic Clarity

- Employee Involvement

- Meaningful Values

- Inspirational Leaders

- Career Opportunities

- Financial Incentives

- Rewards and Recognition



D.

C.

B. A.

F.

E.

ACTIVITY



ACTIVITY

D.

C.

B. A.

F.

E.



D

.

C

.

B

.

A.

F

.

E

.

ACTIVITY


COMMUNITY HEALTH & WELLNESS

“Community Wellness is the

combination of social, economic,

environmental, cultural, and political

conditions identified by individuals

and their communities as essential

for them to flourish and fulfill their

potential.” Wiseman and Brasher, 2013



Happy City, Understanding Local Needs for Wellbeing Data

ECONOMY

EDUCATION

AND

CHILDHOOD

EQUALITY

HEALTH

PLACE

SOCIAL

RELATIONSHIPS

PERSONAL

WELLBEING



ECONOMY

EDUCATION

AND

CHILDHOOD

EQUALITY

HEALTH

PLACE

SOCIAL

RELATIONSHIPS

PERSONAL

WELLBEING

Autonomy

Happiness

Life Satisfaction

Worthwhile

Anxiety

Unemployment

Job Quality

Material Deprivation

Child Learning

Adult Learning

Children’s Wellbeing

WB Inequality

Health Behaviour

Overall Health

Mental Health

Green Space

Housing

Democracy

Local Environment

Crime & Security

Culture

Close Support

Generalized Trust

Personal Relationships

Community Cohesion

Volunteering

Personal Wellbeing

Economy

Education and Childhood

Equality

Health

Place

Social Relationships

Happy City, Understanding Local Needs for Wellbeing Data


HEALTH & MUSEUMS

“Museums serve the health needs of

the self by fostering relaxation,

introspection, and health education.”

Silverman, The Social Work of Museums, 2010


HEALTH & WELLNESS

SOCIAL INDICATORS

Hill Research Strategies, The Arts and Individual Well-Being in

Canada, General Social Survey, 2013

• Self-reported health

• Self-reported mental health

• Volunteering

• Feeling trapped in a daily routine

• Stress level

• Knowledge of neighbours

• Doing a favour for a neighbour

• Self-reported satisfaction with life


HEALTH & WELLNESS

Health

(excellent –

very good)

Mental Health

(excellent –

very good)

Volunteer Trapped in

daily routine

Stress (Not at

all – not very

stressfull

Knows

neighbours

(mainly – mostly)

Favour for

neighbour

Very strong

satisfaction with

life (8-10)

60%

47%

50%

37% 38%

Health, well-being and social connections of art gallery visitors in 2010

Art gallery visitors Non-visitors

Hill Research Strategies, The Arts and Individual Well-Being in Canada, General Social Survey, 2013

67%

58%

31% 30%

37%

45%

69%

63% 62%

58%

42%


HEALTH & WELLNESS

Community

Organization

Individual

M

U

S

E

U

M


INTERCONNECTEDNESS

SUSTAINABILITY

▸ Financial

▸ Environmental


▸Community

Engagement


















COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS:

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS NOT:

Identifying and addressing what the community cares about.

Identifying what the community can do for your organization.

Doing things that really matter, e.g. activities focused on building better communities.

Token exhibits and programs about or with community groups.

Establishing long-term relationships and partnerships with other community groups.

Occasional stakeholder input meetings or an annual visitor survey.

Working with community groups to plan and offer your programs and activities, and sharing the control, acknowledgement and proceeds.

Continuing to control and run your programs and activities, yet expecting other community organizations to participate and donate.

Getting involved in community activities outside of your organization.

Expecting reciprocity for contributions to the community outside your organization.

Matelic, Transformative Power and Community Engagement, AMA, 2013.





COLLABORATION SPECTRUM TOOL

COMPETE

Competition for audience, resources, partners, public attention

CO-EXIST

No systemic connection between organizations

COMMUNICATE

Information sharing (e.g. Network)

COOPERATE

As needed, often informal, interaction on discrete activities or project

COORDINATE

Organization systematically adjust and align with each other for greater outcomes

COLLABORATE

Longer term Interaction based on shared mission, goals; shared decision makers and resources

INTEGRATE

Fully integrated programs, planning, funding

Resource: adapted from Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement, Collaborative Spectrum Tool.


SUSTAINABILITY

▸ Financial

▸ Environmental





SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The What



The Who

• The homeless

• Cultural groups

• Youth at risk

My Flashpoint Issues:



The Why

“Museums had inadvertently arrived at a

metaphorical watershed where it is now

imperative to ask broader questions about

why they do what they do, to confront a

variety of admittedly unruly issues, and to

propose some new choices.”

Robert R. Janes, The Mindful Museum



The How



“How is it that museums, as social

institutions, may remain aloof from the

litany of socio-environmental issues that

confront us, when many of these issues

are intimately related to the purpose,

mission, and capabilities of museums as

we know them?”

Robert R. Janes, The Mindful Museum


TENSEGRITY

Tensegrity Structures are known for:

DEFINITION: maintaining structural stability, or integrity, through continual tensional forces - Buckminster Fuller

‣ Flexibility

‣ Agility

‣Resilience

‣ Strength


SUSTAINABILITY

▸ Financial

▸ Environmental






CONTACT US @

ALEXANDRA HATCHER

[email protected]

HANNAH CHIPMAN

[email protected]

LISA MAKING

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]








