Museums and sustainability: an overview of the ten years of the SocioEnvironmental Program in the museums of the Brazilian Institute of Museums

Abstract

The alarming effects of political, socio-economic and cultural choices are already perceived on the planet and multiply debates about culture being considered the fourth pillar of sustainability. This text is limited to the environmental dimension of the term sustainability and highlights the role of museums with regard to their educational vocation and their social function for the well-being of society. Therefore, we ask ourselves about the concrete actions that these entities have been carrying out or proposing to mitigate and compensate for the damage, contributing to the adoption of more sustainable practices and patterns of social behavior. Our aim is to reflect on the role of museums in the sustainability of territories based on an assessment of the ten years since the creation of the first socio-environmental program to be part of the structure of a museological plan of Brazilian organization, namely, the Museum of the Republic. The analysis focused on entities linked to the Brazilian Institute of Museums, started from the perspective of historical institutionalism and used a quantitative and qualitative data collection methodology. The results achieved indicate the challenges for: a) the implementation and maintenance of new institutional behavior patterns; b) the importance of collaboration, in the form of technical cooperation terms and interinstitutional partnerships, to overcome budgetary and expertise shortages of these entities to carry out actions in line with international recommendations to face the unavoidable climate emergency. Finally, this preliminary study indicates the importance of developing and consolidating museum practices aimed at the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda.