From the practical to the philosophical, from the local to the international, from big to small museums of all types, the first six months of the Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice Blog are full of promise. Here are the top five most visited blog posts … but I encourage you to revisit them all. What do you think? Which are your favourites? Most useful?

#1 A Shade of Green: Ten Practical Steps for Museums

Appears we all DO want to make a difference but are not sure how to start. Although not a full guide to museum sustainability, this post by Joshua Lichty offers, a step forward, using ten practical, cost neutral changes you can implement immediately to point your museum in the right direction to becoming more environmentally friendly.

#2 How do museums help people hold on to inspiration – and act?

Henry McGhie tweaked our interest with a call for help … The Science Centre World Summit will be in Tokyo in November. At the meeting, a Tokyo Protocolwill be discussed and ratified, which reaffirms the potential and commitment of global museums and museum networks to support the UN sustainable development agenda, to transform our world by 2030, for the benefit of people, and nature, everywhere.

#3 The Case for Cutting Museum Ties to Big Oil

We are interested in activism, too. This article was the first part of a two part series written by Guest Blogger, Katie Perfitt, the Canada Divestment Organizer with 350.org*. Katie was running a campaign calling on the Museum of History in Gatineau, QC to drop the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. In this piece, she explores the myth of acceptable oil sponsorship. In the second part, you’ll hear from Katie about why the Museum of History is well placed to be on the leading edge of the Fossil Free Culture movement in Canada.

#4  “To participate is to be permanently uncomfortable” – Museum Educators as Activists

A thought-provoking video by Robert Janes, which was premiered during the Group for Education in Museums (GEM) (UK) Conference in 2016.  The video touches on the idea that museums need to move beyond their so-called “neutrality” and tackle the serious issues facing the world.  Do we need to redefine the meaning of education in museums to succeed in doing so?  Although they say it – do museums really believe that education is a key focus of museums?  Is it a challenge to accept a definition of education wider than one of “it’s all about teaching school groups”?

#5 From Outputs to Outcomes – Are You Making the Shift?

What might a shift to outcomes-based program evaluation look like for climate justice advocates in museums and galleries? M. Christine Castle wrote about her work with the Ontario Museum Association and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport to develop an Outcomes-Based Program Planning & Evaluation Webinar and Workbook. These materials are online and available free of charge.

We invite YOU to write for the Coalition Blog in 2018. More information here.