Strategy + Commitment + Culture
Building a work culture focused on sustainability
Discovery Museum published its 5-Year Sustainability Plan in June 2021. It contains 29 action steps toward carbon neutrality that require thought and action across all areas of our operations—from Facilities to Development to Finance and more, and across all levels of staff.
To engender a work culture where environmental impact would become a natural, and foremost consideration rather than a well-intended retrofit, we created a cross-functional team that met monthly to discuss, debate, and decide both big and small changes to our operations and new projects. The creatively named Sustainability Team continues its work today, and environmentally impactful ideas and decision-making have filtered throughout our organization and become part of our ongoing considerations.
Discovery Museum's staff-maintained vermiculture farm is used to compost food scraps, paper towels, and other organic material produced by staff. Nutrient rich compost is used to feed the museum’s vegetable garden.
Attribution: Discovery Museum
Where we were/what started this process
Discovery Museum began working on its first Sustainability Plan framework in 2019; it served as an outline of directions we could take toward more sustainable museum-wide operations. The impetus was simple: we had built an outdoor nature playscape to entice kids and families to play in, learn from, and appreciate the outdoors, and it complemented the museum’s investments in staff resources for a robust outdoor and environmental education program.
To back up that emphasis on the importance of nature and the outdoors, we wanted to “walk the talk” in our own operations. To support our messaging to kids and families around appreciating, learning from, and taking care of the natural world, we wanted to model through action that our organization values the planet and protecting it, and that both big and small steps can make a difference.
When we published our 5-year Sustainability Plan in 2021, it had become apparent that it would require many small and thoughtful actions by everyone in the organization—and some large institutional actions too like converting to onsite solar—to meet our goals.
What we are doing
Our 5-year Sustainability Plan outlines 29 action steps across all areas of museum operations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and move toward carbon neutrality, reduce water use, minimize waste, invest sustainably, and advocate for climate action. The plan was a pretty big stake in the ground that was going to require a work culture aware of, and eventually grounded in, sustainability. We have affected that culture in both big and small ways throughout our operations.
With the development of the plan, we began to have monthly Sustainability Team meetings. It was and is a large group, with staff from Visitor Services, Marketing, Finance, Executive, Facilities, Programs, and Exhibits—essentially all departments across the museum are represented. In those meetings we discuss ideas and ongoing projects like waste audits, electric-powered equipment, worms and compost bins, visitor recycling signs, eco-friendly cleaning products, green party supplies, environmental adult education speakers, and everything in between.
The conversion to 100% onsite solar is our big, glamorous achievement, but there are many other large and small objectives that have been completed successfully as a team like:
the Carbon Offset Program for members, visitors, and staff.
almost all grounds maintenance equipment is now electric powered (the chainsaw is the last on the list).
using reusable tableware and linens for our events, and retaining a composting service for events. The museum also purchases carbon offsets for event guests.
composting both staff and visitor waste on site (worm farm included).
tabletop information magnets to help families think about where to put their trash before they approach the receptables.
environmentally friendly trash bags.
eliminating single-use plastic water bottles from our vending machines and all events.
recycled paper towel products and environmentally friendly cleaning products.
eliminating plastic bags for store purchases and moving away from merchandise vendors that shrink-wrap products for delivery.
use of native plants on campus, which require less water.
rain barrels and rainwater collection systems to provide water for irrigation.
dialogue and discussion on environmental issues through several Discovery Museum Speaker Series events.
reduction of consumable materials in the museum’s public programs.
We measure our success annually and report that publicly in a Sustainability Plan Annual Report (see link “Discovery Museum Sustainability Plan, 2nd Annual Report”).
Where we want to go
Our goal is to continue to progress on our Sustainability Plan toward carbon neutrality. Each year we hope to continue to reduce the impact of our operations. We have many objectives that have not been fully realized yet, such as an investment strategy focused on environmentally sustainable entities, reducing the carbon impact of our in-school workshop program, greater reductions in water use, further reduction in education program consumables, and more.
But the work through our Sustainability Team has filtered throughout the organization, and staff members from all departments and from all levels have suggested, and continue to suggest, ideas to help us reach our goals. For example, it was staff who suggested, developed, and ran Bessie’s Closet, a free pop-up clothing store for visitors: we collect several thousand pounds of clothes per year and distribute them, for free, to the community. Staff also suggested that we should offer sustainable tableware for birthday parties, conduct a waste audit, maintain our own worm farm for compost, and more.
Attachment list and links
Discovery Museum 5-Year Sustainability Plan: https://www.discoveryacton.org/media/3128/download?inline
Discovery Museum Sustainability Plan, 2nd Annual Report: https://www.discoveryacton.org/media/3560/download?inline=
Building a work culture based on sustainability at all levels
MODS serves as the primary convener for resilience and sustainability in Broward County, Florida, providing education, resources, public programs, exhibits, and engagement opportunities for our communities. Areas of focus highlighted in the Hub include Policy in Action, Natural Systems, Water Supply, Climate Tech Innovation, Built Environment, Transportation, and Energy Resources.
The Hub for Resilience Education is driven by our Resilience Advisory Committee, consisting of 30+ leaders from the public and private sector who meet regularly to support the development of the Hub and contribute to discussions, innovations, and advancement of our common goal of achieving resilience and sustainability in South Florida. The Hub is supported by our Environmental Sustainability department and led by our Director of Environmental Sustainability (and 80 paid high school interns, the EcoExplorers).
The Museum of Discovery and Science’s (MODS) Hub for Resilience Education is an initiative that is integrating environmental sustainability throughout the organization, from programs and exhibits to institutional culture. The goals of the Hub are to anchor, and champion our community’s conversation, education, and action regarding environmental sustainability and resilience.
Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Attribution: Museum of Discovery and Science
Where we were/what started this process
Environmental crises are having a profound impact on our world. In Florida, more than 14 million people in coastal communities face life-threatening risks due to climate change and must learn to become resilient to the impacts of extreme weather, heat, flooding, and sea level rise. At the Museum of Discovery and Science (MODS), we are championing engagement, education, and action for environmental sustainability and resilience in South Florida.
In October 2019, our board approved Pathways to the Future the 2020–2025 Strategic Plan. The plan reflects the changing landscape of both our community and the world. We heard that the most critical subjects for the museum to address over the next five years are early childhood education, climate change and resilience, healthy choices for the whole body, and technological innovation.
The plan led to the development of the Hub for Resilience Education and the June 2022 partnership with the Community Foundation of Broward, to entrust the museum with the responsibility to anchor, and champion the community’s conversation, education, and action regarding environmental sustainability and resilience. MODS serves as the primary convener for resilience and sustainability in Broward County, providing education, resources, public programs, and engagement opportunities for our communities.
What we are doing
The Hub for Resilience Education focuses on anchoring, and championing our community’s conversation, education, and action regarding environmental sustainability and resilience through a number of initiatives that permeate throughout the entire culture of our museum.
Initially, the initiatives focused on education, resources, public programs, and engagement opportunities for the community with the goals of:
introducing the latest scientific concepts related to coastal resilience and climate change.
engaging visitors in a creative atmosphere that inspires innovative thinking.
supporting South Florida’s emerging resilience industry by cultivating workforce development, seeding entrepreneurship and economic vitality of solutions to these issues.
increasing environmental literacy and empowering people to make themselves and their communities resilient to the impacts of climate change.
encouraging environmental collaborations among residents, community leaders, businesses and others that foster workable solutions.
Launching the Hub for Resilience Education required additional staff resources, with our Director of Environmental Sustainability being the initial hire, and then our Manager of Environmental Sustainability joining the team in year two of the initiative.
Programs within the Hub for Resilience Education include:
Everglades EcoExplorers, a paid internship that provides eighty students annually with a comprehensive environmental education internship that includes field experiences, job training, and skills development.
Visit Lauderdale Science Festival, a new regional science showcase that attracted 11,000 in its inaugural weekend in 2023, the festival spotlights innovators, resilience strategies and action plans through conversations with global leaders.
MODS STEMobile, an innovative outreach program serving 60,000 youth annually with environmental programming and delivering 80% of all programs to underserved youth from marginalized communities most impacted by issues of climate injustice.
Eye of the Storm, an annual event, in partnership with Florida International University’s International Hurricane Research Center, highlighting the importance of hurricane awareness and preparedness.
Broward Youth Climate Summit, an annual partnership with the School Board of Broward County and Broward County’s Environmental Planning & Community Resilience Division empowering youth to understand and act regarding resilience and sustainability.
LEGO Playful Learning Museum Network, a national partnership with the LEGO Foundation to teach sustainability through playful learning.
Lilly Endowment’s Fostering Character Initiative, a national initiative of 23 museums funded by the Lilly Endowment that will integrate positive character traits into exhibits and programs.
Caretakers of Wonder, a national initiative of nine museums to create a new climate education framework developmentally appropriate for children from birth to age 8 focusing on empathy and resiliency.
Where we want to go
As the Hub for Resilience Education, we are advancing our community’s conversation regarding resilience and sustainability. Over the coming year, we will impact close to 500,000 annual visitors and students on field trips, plus an additional 100,000 students with outreach programs through our mission of Connecting People to Inspiring Science.
The next project driven by our Strategic Plan is Build a Better World, an immersive, 5,000 square foot permanent exhibit that inspires dialogue, nurtures environmental stewardship, and highlights innovations that address solutions to the challenges of climate change. The concept design is complete and schematic design begins Summer 2024.
Build a Better World is a community-driven initiative that reflects the needs of Broward County and will feature immersive educational components for guests of all ages, designed to foster strong connections and a sense of responsibility to protect the environment.
By encouraging action and engagement in local issues of climate change and resilience, we are leading a generation that will have the skills, resources, and experiences needed to act and address the world’s critical environmental issues.
Attachment list and links
MODS Hub for Resilience Education site: https://mods.org/resilience/
Building a work culture based on sustainability at all levels
When the Louisiana Children’s Museum moved from our old location in the warehouse district of New Orleans to our new location in City Park, we created four new impact areas that represented the values that we wanted to work and live by in our next chapter and new location. They were Health & Wellness, Early Learning & Literacy, Arts & Culture, and Sustainability.
We knew that promoting and educating our earliest learners about sustainability had to be a priority for not only our state but for the world. By implementing this impact area, we built an entire program for children ages 0–8 surrounding this notion, but it also meant that we needed to “practice what we preached” in our LEED Gold certified building. We now encourage staff to bike to work with the museum’s onsite shower; our vending machines were taken out and water bottle filling stations were installed; we introduced recycling and composting services as well as staff trainings around this; and staff are now really aware of energy use.
In our new location, we continue to educate our staff, and the LEED Gold building standards have become a way of life for everyone.
A group of Louisiana Children’s Museum staff volunteer with a New Orleans-based organization that builds houses for families who have lost their homes to catastrophic weather events.
Attribution: Christopher Small
Where we were/what started this process
At the original location of the Louisiana Children’s Museum on Julia Street in New Orleans’ warehouse district, sustainability was not a focus area. When we began conceptualizing a new museum building and campus, we knew that sustainability and climate change were areas that we wanted to focus on, especially living in the Gulf Coast state of Louisiana. When we moved to the new location in City Park, one-third of the staff moved with the organization and the rest were new hires. For those who came from the Julia Street location, we implemented trainings months before the move. The trainings encompassed our new impact areas and demonstrated why they were important to the organization. And we didn’t just tell staff what we were doing, we also explained why it was important to both early learners, to the region, and beyond. These efforts were important to “getting people on board”. As we continue to hire new staff and grow as an organization, this has become easier as our organizational character evolves—this is who we are. The board was also behind these efforts and approved the plans for the galleries and the impact areas throughout the planning and construction process.
What we are doing
Being in an LEED Gold certified building, there were a lot of changes that came naturally with the building. For example, to help with energy efficiency we have timers and daylighting in all offices and conference rooms; this easily built a culture of being efficient in our spaces. As we have lived in this building longer, staff are now really aware of our lights and how we are using energy in our spaces, so when the lights don’t turn off automatically for some reason, staff are cognizant of making sure spaces aren’t being lit when they aren’t being used.
Another change was removing vending machines from the museum, which was intended to impact staff and guests. By doing this, we encourage staff to bring lunches and snacks from home in reusable containers, use refillable water bottles, and generally be healthier and more sustainable in their food and drink choices. This has been going extremely well, especially since we mostly have new staff (as of May 2021 when we reopened from our COVID-related closure), and they have been open to this kind of sustainability encouragement.
As part of the building's construction, another change for the organization was the addition of a shower and dressing room. By doing this, we encourage staff to walk or bike to work instead of using a vehicle, since now they can shower when they arrive at the museum. In fact, many staff who bike to work utilize this feature of the building.
Recycling and composting have been put into place at the new location as well.
One of the biggest challenges is continuing to educate new staff on our sustainability culture given the inevitable turnover. For those staff members who have been with the museum a long time, these practices have become inherent, but we must continue to educate those who are new. We also have a challenge with the City of New Orleans’ recycling limitations. There are many plastics as well as glass that aren’t accepted. This also poses a challenge for educating staff on what can be recycled due to these limitations. And related, we have contracted with waste management and janitorial services and found similar challenges educating them on the importance of the museum’s recycling efforts—we find many things in the trash that staff initially recycled. We are also challenged to find new ways to continue implementing changes and promoting a sustainable culture.
Where we want to go
Our goals are to continue to find new and improved ways to promote sustainability across our staff and to eventually have more answers to the following questions: what is the next step and how can we continue to improve? How can we continue to operate in a way that represents the commitment we have made through our LEED Gold certified building?’
In the years ahead, we have goals to operate more like an LEED Gold certified building, in everything that we do.
Internal guiding policies
Creating Institutional Position Papers
A Position Paper Development Process was established by Chicago Children’s Museum (CCM) in 2009 after realizing that the institution did not have a consistent and inclusive method for codifying our philosophies and best practices around issues central to our work.
The purpose (and success) of establishing the Process has been to:
1) establish consistent viewpoints and strategies for interpreting CCM’s mission
2) establish a process for continuing to develop new papers; and
3) enable staff and board to “speak the same language” about the museum’s philosophies and principles.
CCM is now utilizing this long-standing process to develop the latest in our series of papers—an Environmental Sustainability Position Paper. The Environmental Sustainability Paper (like all papers preceding it) will be used to guide program and exhibit development, daily operational practices, new employee/board member orientation, trainings, and strategic planning. This will provide us with a foundational document that defines our museum’s knowledge and beliefs related to this topic and articulates our current and intended best practices around mitigating climate change; this is pertinent to an organization focused on early learning and the health and well-being of children and families. The overall goal is to embed climate change mitigation actions into all aspects of our museum practice.
Chicago Children’s Museum at Navy Pier
Attribution: Chicago Children’s Museum
Where we were/what started this process
In 2009, Chicago Children’s Museum (CCM) embarked on an institution-wide initiative to identify and examine important perennial issues that our staff and management had faced for over three decades, and to establish a consistent and inclusive method for codifying its philosophies and best practices around these issues. The purpose of the Position Paper Development Process was to:
Establish consistent viewpoints and strategies for interpreting CCM’s mission.
Establish a documented process for continuing to develop new papers.
Enable staff and board to “speak the same language” about the museum’s philosophies and principles.
Our Advisory Board played a key role in supporting the development of the Papers by serving as advisors for some of the topics and advocating for the Papers’ importance and ultimate adoption by our Board of Directors. External Advisors, research from the field, and our staff’s lived experiences and professional perspectives informed the Position Papers.
The papers have been used internally for program and exhibit development, daily operational practices, new employee/board member orientation, training, and strategy and planning. They are also used to inform external communication (or to be shared directly) with partners, contractors, funders, stakeholders, and peers to help them understand and support the museum’s core philosophies.
What we are doing
Since the establishment of the Position Paper Development Process we have continued to develop new Papers. Consistent steps are followed for each new Position Paper:
Identify a Staff Lead: This person manages the development process, sets agendas, sources initial research/reference docs, and serves as lead writer.
Identify a Staff Team: The Team should represent diverse roles in the museum, tenure, perspectives, and experiences. Members should hold expertise in/affiliation with the topic or demonstrate strong interest in the topic.
Staff Team begins by familiarizing themselves with relevant research (literature review, interviews with experts). They consider their own experiences and the museum’s mission, vision, and values over a series of discussions.
The Team widens the input circle: Board Committee, Advisory Board, and extended staff members address questions posed by the Team.
With relevant input, the Team works to articulate the position and recommendations for best practice.
Staff Lead drafts the paper.
Iterative drafts are reviewed by the Staff Team, Advisory Board, and External Reviewers (identified by Staff Team and Advisory Board).
Management Committee reviews the final draft paper.
The paper is presented and recommended to the Board of Directors with a call for adoption.
Once adopted by the Board, the paper is presented to all staff.
Papers are reviewed every few years and updated as needed.
Successes of the Position Papers include:
Codifying CCM’s philosophies.
Providing language that can be used by all departments to consistently describe the museum’s approaches internally and externally.
Serving as a tool to help new staff and board understand and uphold CCM’s philosophies and practices.
Challenges we have faced include:
The audience for Position Papers is internal only, and we want the Papers to be accessible externally. We have not yet determined the best way to share the papers broadly/externally, outside of providing them piecemeal to other organizations and colleagues as requested.
Developing a more digestible way for all new staff to learn about these positions. Although the papers are brief, reading and processing all 11 of them at once can be a lot.
A regular updating process can be time-consuming and intensive. As staff change over time, who “owns” and reviews the papers to ensure they are always reflective of the latest research and our most current thinking.
Where we want to go
In 2024, we will use the Position Paper Development Process to create an Environmental Sustainability Paper. This foundational document will utilize the Caretakers of Wonder Developmental Framework as a key reference for establishing CCM’s philosophical “position” on climate change and why CCM, as a children’s museum, has an important and necessary role to play in this issue. We will articulate the link between climate change and the health and well-being of children and families in our local and global communities and define the recommended best practices for our organization. Ultimately, the paper will ensure that climate change mitigation actions are embedded in all aspects of our museum practice and guide current and future generations of CCM staff and Board.
Once the paper is developed, our goals are threefold:
All staff and board members can use this resource to consistently and accurately communicate their organization’s core philosophies about climate change and how this impacts the well-being of families.
All staff and board members feel that they can support and uphold the museum’s philosophies around climate change mitigation in their work.
The position represents current research about this topic and the organization’s current thinking. This will require a commitment to regular reviewing.
Attachment list and links
CCM’s Position Papers: Caretakers of Wonder - CCMPositionPapers2020.MASTER-10-6.LOWRES (1).pdf - All Documents (sharepoint.com)
Sustainability Plans
Sustainability Plans & Energy Consumption and reduction: starting a baseline, moving toward renewables
Discovery Museum had a history of commitment to the natural world but needed to bring that to the present with a visible and inspiring set of actions towards environmental sustainability that “walked the talk” around our commitments to addressing climate change. Using existing tools, reusing others’ formats and approaches, and with the help of an energetic intern/volunteer, we created a Sustainability Plan that articulated 8 major goals and 29 action steps.
The Plan, adopted 3 years ago, is implemented with a museum-wide cross functional team that holds responsibility for the plan implementation, with strong visible support of the CEO and Board. The cross functional team serves many key roles and is crucial for the plan's success so far.
A separate external review group helps support the production of an annual progress report that makes the museum’s work publicly visible, which is crucial to the goals of inspiring and motivating others to take action.
Discovery Museum’s solar canopy generated 344,850 kWh of energy in its first year, saving 26,757 gallons of gasoline.
Attribution: (c) Lemon Brooke
Where we were/what started this process
Discovery Museum first articulated its commitment to environmental sustainability in 2007. Asserting that “we are keenly aware of the interrelationships of humans and the natural world and our obligations to be good stewards of that world,” the organization adopted a vision statement to become, “a premier community museum that embodies discovery learning and environmental stewardship.” It was not until 2013 that we were in a place to contemplate a future campus renovation and initiate a capital campaign to fund it, this time with a focus on accessibility—by then, a pressing capital need and programmatic focus.
Our more recent environmental work focused initially on the goal of connecting kids with nature, both to raise awareness and promote the physical and mental health benefits of outdoor play. In 2015, we hired our first Outdoor and Environmental Educator. The following year, Discovery Woods opened: an award winning, one-acre, fully accessible nature playscape and treehouse. Coinciding with the opening of our expanded and renovated, accessible building in 2018, we also changed our longtime tagline, “Hands On, Minds at Play” to “Science. Nature. Play.,” to reflect our programmatic evolution and to elevate our message that getting kids outside is the first step to developing an appreciation for the natural world and a sense of responsible stewardship of its resources.
We had also taken steps to advocate publicly for these values but had increasingly wrestled with how to take concrete steps to be visibly and demonstrably sustainable in our operations as a key strategy for inspiring the next generation of environmental stewards. How we operate and what we model for the world around us is as important and maybe even more so than what we strive to explicitly teach as a museum. Through this modeling, the goal would be to motivate families to adopt more sustainable viewpoints and practices at home, and support environmentally sound public policies. We wanted to more visibly “walk the talk” as a critical element of our educational approach.
What we are doing
One of the first things we decided to do was look for advice and guidance. We had lots of questions about scope, level of detail, and what kinds of goals we should have, and even how we should define “sustainability” for our organization. Luckily, we had experience working with Sarah Sutton from Environment & Culture Partners. She provided positive feedback on our goals, an invitation to join with other cultural institutions as part of We Are Still In (WASI) and some great links to very useful documents.
One especially useful document for us was the WASI list of commitments. Sarah noted that others had used this list as a framework for creating their sustainability plans. Another paper from Museum Australia had a very similar list. Based on a review of these examples, it made sense for us to follow their approach.
So our framework was built around a set of “commitments” including a commitment to renewable power; understanding and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; reducing waste; reducing the impact of transportation; sustainability education and communication; a public commitment to sustainability; and integrating climate change into decision making.
The process for developing our plan was relatively simple and streamlined. Given our long commitment to environmental education, little discussion was needed about whether to formalize our goals and objectives. We moved straight to researching and producing a plan focused on action steps. Key to this was establishing the museum’s baseline environmental impact, which was completed with the tremendous support of a skilled intern who self-described as a “sustainability geek”. With her help, we found answers to a range of questions. How much greenhouse gas (GHG) do we produce? What does our water consumption look like? How many miles are people driving? How many deliveries do we get? How much waste do we generate? What are the cleaning supplies and the materials in exhibits and programs made of? In what ways do we talk about the environment? And many more.
For some of these questions the data was readily available. Our utility is very good at keeping track of the museum’s electricity, oil, and natural gas use. The water company was a bit trickier as they do a poor job of regularly reading the meter. In some areas, no real good data source existed. For example, the waste collector empties the dumpster on a regular schedule whether it is full or half empty.
We found that there are a number of models to estimate GHG emissions based on energy use or miles driven. The goal was to find one that was relatively simple to use and easily available. We chose a model that produced easy to understand and visual representations of our GHG sources.
One very interesting data point stems from our being a suburban museum with effectively no public transportation. Everyone (mostly) drives. So, we were able to use the zip code data we collect from visitors and estimate the number of miles they drive. This is the greatest source of GHG emissions for the museum, and not the easiest to address.
Our data collection efforts were not perfect, but we decided rather than devote lots of time and resources to get perfect data, we would create objectives for “filling in the blanks” later. This meant that even though our measures of progress would be less than precise, we would be moving forward.
Our analysis became the platform for the development of concrete goals and actions, and reasonable timeframes for accomplishing them. We also committed early on to implementing our plan transparently and allowing for flexibility as we made progress and learning along the way.
The most visible part of our plan is the museum’s onsite solar array (completed in 2022) which meets 100% of the museum’s campus energy needs, and then some.
The plan outlines our approach to reducing GHG emissions and becoming carbon neutral; reducing water use; minimizing waste generation; investing sustainably; and advocating for climate action. All of this is supported by a signature environmental education effort that will connect kids and families with nature, help them learn in partnership with the natural world, and inspire them to advocate for sustainability—all in the fun, hands-on Discovery Museum way. The final plan includes 29 action steps, spanning all areas of museum operations, to be taken over the next several years.
Where we want to go
The implementation of our Sustainability Plan is now in its third year. The Sustainability Plan Team is made up of staff members throughout the museum who have primary responsibilities for one or more of the action steps articulated in the plan. The team meets monthly to review progress on each of the steps, share ideas or concerns for moving forward, and identify new or modified actions that we might take. In this way we have peer support and peer accountability for the plan, making sustainability more of an organizational norm.
The team approach of regular discussions of progress has been a good tool for addressing the built-in imperfections of the plan itself. For certain action steps, better ideas have emerged from the work together.
Importantly, we also want to model external accountability. Outside voices added perspective by reviewing our drafts, and the current version has been published on our website and shared across our audience with a request for feedback. The Board of Directors has formally approved and adopted the plan, and we created an external Sustainability Advisory Group, which conducts an annual review of our progress and reports on recommendations for improvements and changes.
Attachment list and links
Discovery Museum’s Sustainability Plan: https://www.discoveryacton.org/media/3128/download?inline
An article about Discovery Museum’s solar power: https://www.discoveryacton.org/news/discovery-museum-announces-conversion-100-site-generated-solar-electricity-excess-sold
The Museum’s Carbon Offset Program: https://www.discoveryacton.org/media/3113/download?inline
Green teams
Green Teams
Madison Children’s Museum has embraced sustainability as a core value for over 30 years, first committing to creating healthy indoor exhibits and environments for children free of harmful toxins in 1995. While our first green teams were informal, since those beginnings we’ve expanded our commitment to being a sustainable organization balancing social, environmental, and economic factors, to meet the needs of children and our community.
Our goal is to empower and equip children to actively shape the world they will inherit by providing them with a healthy, safe, and inclusive environment where they can learn through play. Our museum has LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification and develops exhibits, educational programs, and manages operations using sustainable best practices.
We first created a formal green team comprised of staff, community members, and board members in 2005. In 2007, the board formally adopted a long-range sustainability vision statement and developed a sustainability master plan to guide future exhibits, programs, and long-term thinking. After opening our current location in 2010, with the majority of short-term sustainability goals realized, the green team’s formal work took a hiatus, and a more informal structure carried on with the work.
After post-pandemic staff rebuilding, a new cross-department green team was formed to recommit to shared learning, goal setting, and sustainability actions. The green team reviews sustainability practices in each department, develops core strategic goals, and is doing leg work to reinforce a culture that prioritizes sustainability.
Description and image coming
ATTRIBUTION: XXXX
The green team at Madison Children’s Museum (MCM) includes employees from every department at each organizational level, which fosters a collaborative, cross-departmental environment. Using this team approach to address sustainability ensures that all staff participate in prioritizing and carrying out sustainability work across the organization. We have found that implementing sustainable practices through our green team improves employee engagement, health, and retention, and feelings of agency amongst staff to make a difference. The green team supports the museum in sustainable operations and engages and educates employees and visitors about sustainability related topics and practices. The green team collects, deciphers, interprets, and prioritizes wide-ranging ideas and organizes them into concrete short, mid- and long-term actions.
What we are doing
The newly reinstated green team began their work by discussing what sustainability looks like in the museum now and imagining what it could look like in the future. To ground their work, the team reviewed the museum’s 2007 sustainability plan and sustainability plans from other organizations.
Next, the green team conducted departmental sustainability audits and collected metrics to gain insight into current performance which helped the museum establish a sustainability baseline regarding energy usage, supply chains, paper usage, cleaning products, etc. With baselines established and reviewed, departments set one-year, three-year, and five-year sustainability goals, all reviewed by the green team. Actions with few cost implications were implemented immediately and plans were created to meet longer-term goals.
Waste audits in visitor, staff, and café areas helped us gain a better understanding of our waste generation, recycling, visitor disposal practices, and compost efforts and revealed opportunities to reduce waste and increase recycling and composting. This led to changes in the placement of bins, new bins, better signage, and augmented composting bins, provided by our private composting service which collects compost materials in the café, staff kitchen, and waste from animal enclosures. Yard and garden waste is taken to the city compost drop-off site.
The green team offered a continuing education staff lunch series on climate change and sustainability and two members of the green team were sent to a sustainability course at the local college; afterwards they shared what they learned with the team. Two members participated in the Youth Climate Summit, and all members contributed to sustainability plans to host MCM’s Interactivity party.
The solar panels on the museum’s rooftop do not provide enough energy for the museum’s full energy needs, so we purchased community solar shares which provides 12% of the museum’s energy use. We are on a waiting list to purchase more solar shares as they become available and working on re-installing a new wind turbine.
We build exhibits using green materials, local, upcycled, and recycled materials. We produced our first green exhibit in 1998 and have since put sustainability at the forefront in building all our exhibits. The newest exhibit, The Nice Age Trail, was built using local, natural materials, recycled/upcycled materials, and materials with low-embodied energy. And lastly, we applied for a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Climate Smart grant to work with Verdis Group and a consortium of national museums on energy audits and sustainability.
Where we want to go
Sustainability is a journey, and the growing climate threats are a moving target. We strive to stay up to date with advancements in sustainable technology that can reduce our use of fossil fuels and increase our sustainability practices in all areas. To positively affect climate change, we believe we have a responsibility to model replicable, equitable best practices in sustainability to inspire children and caregivers, and to help our community and world thrive. Our goal is to be a place where children and families from diverse backgrounds and perspectives feel welcome and safe. We will engage in long-term strategic planning this fall (2024) to create concrete plans to reduce fossil fuel emissions, create adaptation, mitigation, and resilience plans, and to find new ways to inspire hope, resiliency, agency, empathy, and collective action amongst the children and families we serve. This includes plans to engage with our diverse community and welcome more people to the table and conversation.
Above all, our goal is to ensure that a healthy environment and adequate resources are available to future generations, and that our museum can serve as a beacon of hope, inspiration, and possibility for all who care about children and their future.
Attachment list and links
MCM’s Green Initiatives: https://madisonchildrensmuseum.org/about/green-initiatives/
Green exhibits: https://www.greenexhibits.org/
NEH Climate Smart Grant: https://www.neh.gov/program/climate-smart-humanities-organizations-0
