More than art: Museums can be conveners for climate-crisis cooperation

Current visitors to the National Nordic Museum in Seattle have the opportunity to experience “FLÓД (“Flood” in Icelandic), a sound and scent sculpture by artist and Sigur Rós vocalist Jónsi. The exhibition transports visitors to a sublime landscape affected by rising sea levels through the scent of seaweed, the feel of fog and mist, and the sound of field recordings mixed with the artist’s ethereal vocals. According to Jónsi, “it’s basically about ‘the big wave’, a wave that takes us all and destroys everything in its path. The effects of climate change, such as sea level rise, flooding and intensified natural disasters are happening all around us, and this piece is a reflection of that dire reality.”

In recent years, museum leaders nationally and internationally have taken up the call to tackle the climate crisis from two directions: through professional practices and compelling experiences. Some museums have installed high-density storage systems to maximize their collections storage while minimizing the square footage requiring climate control. Digital tools that report on a piece of art’s condition can reduce climate impact of a courier accompanying traveling objects. Professional organizations in the museum field now provide tool kits and workshops to promote sustainable exhibition design and construction. New building projects strive for LEED green building certification, a credential established in the early 1990s by the U.S. Green Building Council to promote sustainable construction and operation. Finally, graduate programs in museology offer courses devoted to sustainability. Today’s rising generation of museum professionals understands the role they need to play to reduce climate impact.

We’ve taken up this call at the National Nordic Museum, where I serve as lead curator. Housed in a purpose-built LEED Gold-certified Building, the Museum received the American Alliance of Museums’ Sustainability Excellence Award in 2020. The museum is guided by four core values that reflect millennia of Nordic history: social justice, openness, innovation and respect for nature. Through programs and exhibitions like “FLÓÐ,” we uphold these values by raising awareness of the most pressing global issue of our time. In 2021, in collaboration with the American Alliance of Museums, the International Council of Museums and the National Museum Directors’ Council (UK), we produced “On the Front Line: Arctic Museums and Climate Change.” Designed to coincide with the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, “On the Front Line” convened speakers in seven countries to discuss the impact of climate change on Indigenous peoples of the Circumpolar North. It was streamed to a global audience free of charge.

Museums, in short, have reflected on their practices and adapted. They’ve fostered dialogue about global issues both within and beyond their walls. But museums can do much more. They can embrace their role as a neutral convener for corporate leaders, scholars and policymakers. Take, for example, the fifth annual Nordic Innovation Summit, held in May 2023. The brainchild of former National Nordic Museum trustee Birger Steen and Executive Director/CEO Eric Nelson, the summit launched in 2018 as way for the museum to connect thought leaders in the Nordic countries with the Pacific Northwest — two highly creative regions seeking solutions to the world’s biggest problems. The summit has grown in recent years to span nearly a week of public and private events for an audience of more than 400 on site and thousands online through a live webcast. In 2023, 59 speakers addressed the theme “Sustaining Sustainability”: the idea that by doing good, a company (with strong environmental, social and governance, or ESG, commitment) can do well financially.

Speakers at the summit spanned government and industry. Executives at Volta Truck discussed the U.S. launch of their first-ever 16-ton all-electric commercial vehicle — and parked an example at the entrance to the museum. Henrik Henriksson, CEO of H2 Green Steel, shared how his company is reducing 95% of carbon emissions from one of the world’s dirtiest industries. And Gov. Jay Inslee made a pitch for Nordic clean-tech companies to come to Washington, where the political and economic environment is favorable to their aims.

The Nordic Innovation Summit has led to stronger cooperation between the Nordic region and Washington state, resulting in formal agreements between the state and two Nordic nations, Norway and Finland. Corvus Energy, a Norwegian manufacturer of batteries for maritime applications, has brought its operations to Washington, while still others are planning to expand here. Nordic nations are leaders in green transition with many innovative solutions already in practice, such as Finland’s harvest of waste heat energy from a data center to heat homes — replacing a coal-fired plant and allowing for its retirement. Other innovations include using 5G technology to manage port logistics.

Hosting an innovation and technology conference may seem an unusual role for an art, history and culture museum. Yet exhibitions like “FLÓД and programs like the Nordic Innovation Summit have shown that museums can live their mission and values while addressing the most critical issues of our time.