How do objects document and tell stories about the climate emergency? What do we collect and how? What should we collect and why?

National Museums Scotland is hosting a free, one-day in-person symposium to explore how museums are developing collections and exhibitions that represent the impacts of and responses to environmental change.

The event will bring together museum professionals to share case studies, knowledge and experiences collecting material culture on this theme. The emphasis is on how museums today are representing interrelated social, cultural, political and environmental shifts in modern and contemporary history collections.

The event will feature contributions from across the sector, including speakers from National Museums Scotland, Perth Museum and the House of European History (Brussels, Belgium). We welcome delegates who are working or volunteering in collecting organisations in Scotland, UK and Europe and have an interest in this work.

This is an in-person event that aims to enable delegates to share knowledge, build relationships, and take part in open discussions around this topic.

We encourage delegates to use more sustainable travel options wherever possible to attend the event. Details on how to get to the museum by bus, train, tram and bike can be found here: Plan your visit | National Museum of Scotland | National Museums Scotland (nms.ac.uk)

The event is free and lunch and refreshments will be provided. Arrival and registration will be from 9:30am and the first talk will start at 10am. We will finish 4:15pm.

For those unable to attend, we hope to share recorded versions of some of the talks in due course.

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Image: Pair of wooden 'Sneachda' skis with pyrography engraving of rutting stags among foliage by Eben Cavanagh Rautenbach, made by Jamie Kunka of Lonely Mountain Skis, Birnam, Perthshire, 2017. © National Museums Scotland

Collecting Environmental Change: Case Studies from Scotland and Europe