Roots and Branches Project
Would your museum like to take action against climate change?
Roots and Branches is a collaboration between The Carbon Literacy Project, Museum Development England and Manchester Museum, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. It aims to train and certify 1,500 people from 300 museums as Carbon Literate over the next two years and give an opportunity for museums to converse, experiment, and test new ideas for a more sustainable future.
A creative environmental hub
Manchester Museum will host the ’Roots’, creating a nationally significant co-working hub of cultural environmental action that will bring together museums, educators, environmentalists, artists, researchers, third sector organisations and students.
Carbon Literacy training
The ‘Branches’ of the project will create an environmentally aware and active sector, giving museums the tools to respond to ‘Let’s Create’, Art Council England’s 10-year strategy in which environmental responsibility is at the core.
Carbon Literacy training is a tried and tested model of delivery that gives delegates a deeper understanding of the climate crisis and how they, as individuals and workers, can accelerate their action to respond to the climate crisis.
Starting in October, MDY will offer more museums the opportunity to attend regional carbon literacy training tailored to museum activities.
The launch of Roots & Branches will coincide with the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2021, when The Carbon Literacy Project hope to see the most people ever trained in Carbon Literacy in one day.
Carbon Literacy toolkit
A new online Museums’ Carbon Literacy Toolkit will be developed that will be free to access by all museums. It will include everything a museum will need to roll carbon literacy out to colleagues, including a presentation and a training manual complete with timing schedule. The Toolkit has the flexibility to be adapted for your local area, using local environmental data and case studies.
#MuseumCarbonStories
From 9th August to 12th November 2021, in the run up to and during COP26, a social media campaign will run for all museums to join in with, showcasing how the museum sector is responding to the climate crisis.
#MuseumCarbonStories is a campaign of weekly themes linked to environmental sustainability, which participating museums can respond to over 14 weeks.
How can you get involved?
For Accredited Museums in England: To coincide with COP26, MDY will deliver a Carbon Literacy course that you can sign up to. The Carbon Literacy Toolkit will be made available from November 2021.
Your regional Museum Development team will also provide at least two more regional training courses during the project.
Look out for more information on how to book on your local course in the coming weeks!
If your organisation is interested in rolling out the training internally for your own workforce from November 2021, you can get in touch with your regional team who will be able to give you the information you need to access the materials from The Carbon Literacy Project. Extra support will be available to you through a new Museum Carbon Literacy Officer who will work across England.
You can also join in the social media campaign using any existing social media platform you use. The campaign will start on 9th August and run until 12th November 2021, the last day of COP26.
For National Portfolio Organisations, National Museums in England and non-Accredited Museums: Once the toolkit has been published, it will be available through The Carbon Literacy Project website. You can use the content to schedule your own training sessions for your workforce. You can also join in the social media campaign from August to November.
If you have any questions or would like to express an interest in getting involved in Roots & Branches with MDY from any museum, please contact: joanne.bartholomew@ymt.org.uk
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