Differences in sustainability approaches from the mission statements of museums – the case of CEE and other European contemporary art museums

ABSTRACT

Research on sustainability in museums typically focuses on one dimension of sustainability, with little research on a holistic understanding of sustainability. Research on how museums align with sustainability is not a new topic, but rare in the context of contemporary art museums. The paper aims to analyse how European contemporary art museums have incorporated sustainability into their mission statements. The study uses a qualitative discourse analysis method to examine the content of the missions of 50 European contemporary art museums. From a regional perspective, in general, an openness towards sustainability and a holistic approach is less visible in the mission, but more so in non-CEE countries. Environmental management, economic stability and innovative, proactive behaviour are also stronger in non-CEE countries. In terms of societal roles CEE museums are primarily concerned with educating society, while non-CEE museums are already playing the role of the agent of change in social transformation.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainability of museums
• contemporary art museum
• museum mission
• museum management
• Central-Eastern Europe
• discursive

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zsuzsanna Fehér

Zsuzsanna Feher is PhD candidate at Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary. She holds a MA in Art History from the ELTE Faculty of Humanities, Budapest. Her areas of research are related to sustainable museum and museum communication. She is currently a deputy director of Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art in Budapest and lecturer at Corvinus University of Budapest.

Katalin Ásványi

Katalin Ásványi is an Associate Professor, and she is the Head of the Department of Sustainability Management and Environmental Economics. She has courses, both English and Hungarian, focusing on sustainability management, corporate social responsibility and CSR communication at BA, MA and postgraduate levels. She specializes in the fields of sustainable museums and business education for sustainability. She is the chair of the Steering Committee of the newly launched ERS HUB group, an initiative that strives to bring together faculty members and their initiative in fields of ethics, responsibility and sustainability.