Global Climate Network: challenges and experiences in managing the museum environment

Global Climate Network: challenges and experiences in managing the museum environment
25 February 2022, at 9:00-10:30 CET [Zoom]

With this session we hope to bring together heritage professionals that work within the area of environmental management within a heritage institution. Maintaining a specific temperature and / or relative humidity is a time consuming complex challenge to many with or without HVACs, mobile devices or passive means. This challenge became even more complex with the COVID-19 pandemic which forces museums to find a balance between ventilation with fresh air and maintaining a museum climate.

An online session will enable colleagues from all over the world to share their experience and knowledge. This first session should be seen as a first of several where you can meet colleagues to share your ideas, questions and discuss options to seek solutions together. In this session we will present an overview of the trends in climate management in western Europe, Japan and New Zealand:

Naoko Sonoda from the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka will talk about indoor climate control, and especially the challenges and issues faced. For several years, an energy saving regime with the air conditioning turned off in spring and autumn for certain general storage rooms is maintained. This strategy was developed to meet sustainability objectives. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic ventilation and the supply of fresh air became a high priority in the exhibition galleries. This new control strategy forced the museum to use more energy to keep indoor climate conditions at an acceptable level. This goes against saving energy, but is seen as a necessary measure to allow visitors to safely enjoy their heritage.

Bart Ankersmit works as a researcher at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands. He will provide an overview of the challenges museums face in the Netherlands due to the combination of strict climate requirements and the nation-wide energy transition, ie reduce the use of natural gas and use electricity.

Vesna Živkovic works at the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library New Zealand. ATL is an institution which achieved the perceived “optimum” of absolutely constant relative humidity and temperature and minimising the levels of air pollutants due to its well maintained and well-operated air-conditioning system and high-level chemical and particle filtration. However, urging consideration of sustainability, the Library is deliberating introducing new guidelines with broadened environmental parameters, using the present body of knowledge. Vesna will discuss the establishment and maintenance of environmental conditions from the point of view of pragmatic risk management based on different approaches in determining life expectancy of collections, as well as how the concept of perpetuity relates to the consideration of low energy storage.

Depending on the number of participants and the issues raised we intend to organize a second session were new speakers can present their experiences and challenges.

We hope to bring together colleagues from all over the world.

Anna Büllow
Vesna Živkovic
Naoko Sonoda
David Cohen
Andrea Bernath
Bart Ankersmit
Suruchika Chawla


Please note that this event will be recorded. Recordings will be held by the ICOM-CC Coordinator Anna Bülow and made available for ICOM members on request until 20 May 2022. All recordings will be deleted on this date.

You will receive a Zoom link on completion of this registration form. Please do not share the Zoom link but encourage others to complete this registration process. Thank you!