Hands holding blocks and cards for Future Builder SustainABLE activity

Sustainability

A compilation of sustainability public engagement and professional learning resources. Annual events include: World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, Earth Hour, Earth Day, National Public Works Week, Campus Sustainability Month, and more.

Profesional Development

Sustainability and Museums: Cover Guide featuring a father and young child interacting with a giant balloon

Professional Resources for Sustainability

Tools to help museum professionals plan and implement sustainability projects and programs.

Sustainability Fellowship

NISE Network’s Sustainable Futures initiative supports museums and similar cultural organizations in their efforts to integrate sustainability into all aspects of their institution. Through the Sustainability Fellowship program, staff at museums participate in a series of online workshops to develop a sustainability-related project at their organization while developing relationships with a broader community of practice.

Activities

Two decks of cards from the Cards for Humanity Activity

Games for the Future

In this activity, learners participate in futures thinking and learn about the United Nation's global goals for sustainable development by playing a series of games.

Image of various crafting materials for the Watch and Create activity

Watch and Create! Creativity For Sustainability

In this activity, learners work together to explore their relationship with technology and examine ways to make sustainable media consumption choices.

Ecosystem Engineers

In this activity, learners will investigate an ecosystem interaction web to understand the interconnections between people, other organisms, and habitats.

Good Life Challenge

In this activity, learners connect individual actions that support the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals, (SDG).

Imagine Our Community 2100

In this activity, learners are lead through a discussion-based activity and are encouraged to imagine their community 80 years into the future using the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Young learner sorting colored marbles into three different colored boxes using a tube and funnel

Water Roll

In this activity, learners decide how they would distribute water between homes, farms and factories by sliding marbles down a tube into various containers.

Future Builder

In this activity, learners build a tower representing a future community. Learners will discover how sustainability is a balance of economic, societal, and environmental efforts.

Image of three young learners looking at recycled materials card

Creative Reinvention

In this activity, learners are asked to guess what recycled materials were used to make various products, and challenge them to think of creative ways to reuse the waste materials in their homes.

Illustration of a person in an astronaut suit holding up their hand for a high five

High Five for the Future

Promotional graphic signage for sustainability social media photo opp.

hands drawing an image prompted by a card that pictures a changing community

My Community

In this activity, learners can draw their neighborhoods and talk about what they like best or least about the places they live. Then, learners are challenged to draw potential improvements they'd like to see in their communities.

Systems Scramble

In this activity, learners will have conversations about how systems work, and how we can work together to better understand systems and work toward creating a more sustainable future.

Forums

Women's Rights and Sustainability

In this activity, learners will use a set of issues and character cards to consider the importance of women’s rights to sustainability in a guided conversation format.

Theater and Stage Programs

Survival: A Game Show about People, Planet, and Prosperity

In this activity, learners will work as a team to discover that the three main pillars of sustainability (People, Planet, and Prosperity) are interconnected and necessary to a healthy future.

Projects

Sustainability in Science and Technology Museums

NISE Network’s Sustainable Futures initiative supports museums and similar cultural organizations in their efforts to integrate sustainability into all aspects of their institution, including decision-making, operations, programs, and community partnerships. The program uses a broad definition of sustainability, which aligns with the UN global goals.

Sustainable Futures

Public engagement programs and professional resources related to sustainability and museums

SustainABLE Kit

Activities and professional development resources designed to engage the public in sustainability.

Online Workshops

Online Workshop Recording: Sustainability in Museums Around the World: Working Together to Create a Sustainable Future (Part 1)

Online professional development workshop recording (2020).

Online Workshop Recording: Sustainability and Museum Operations: Practices, Partnerships, and Resources to Help Your Organization Become More Sustainable (Part 2)

Online professional development workshop recording (2020).

Online Workshop Recording: Sustainability and Museum Visitors: Exhibits, Programs, and Other Ways to Engage the Public (Part 3)

Online professional development workshop recording (2020).

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goals Poster with icons for each goal

UN Sustainable Development Goals https://sdgs.un.org/goals
UN Sustainable Development Goals graphics
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/news/communications-material/
UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development Goals report
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247444

More Resources

Many additional resources are compiled in the NISE Network Sustainability and Museums: A Workbook for Improving Operations, Engaging Communities, and Creating Partnerships
Educational Resources
- The Cloud Institute has a variety of frameworks and curricula
  https://cloudinstitute.org/cloud-publication
- National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI)
  https://climateinterpreter.org/resources
- Several sustainability scholars, led by Arnim Wiek, wrote a useful framework for thinking about capacities for sustainability
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-011-0132-6
Facilities and Operations
- Association of Zoos & Aquariums Green Practices guides
  https://www.aza.org/green-practices
- The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program includes a certification program and best practices for improving operations
  https://leed.usgbc.org
Purchasing and Procurement Policies
- Canadian Museum Association
  https://www.museums.ca/document/1147/Chapter_7.pdf
- National Association of State Procurement Officials
  https://www.naspo.org/green-purchasing-guide
Exhibits Design
- Sustainable Exhibition Design & Construction Toolkit (v4 February 2023)
- Mindful Materials Museum Exhibition Materials Pledge
  https://www.mindfulmaterials.com/museum-pledge
- The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) Green Exhibit Checklist (2012)