Blogs

December 2024 Dear Colleagues, We are beyond thrilled to announce that the AIC Board has recently endorsed the most recent version Bizot Green Protocol : The American Institute for Conservation (AIC) recognizes that the climate crisis is an increasing threat to cultural heritage and the world. Evidence has irrefutably shown that carbon emissions play a significant role in exacerbating the crisis. With this urgency in mind, AIC recognizes the value of The Bizot Green Protocol and supports collective adoption and implementation efforts to improve sustainability and reduce the environmental impact of cultural heritage preservation and conservation. ...

What has happened in the decade since the AIC Sustainability Committee was formed? The AIC Sustainability Committee was established in 2008. We have been asking ourselves, what is on the horizon for the next decade? But before we get there, we thought we’d take a breath to look at the progress that has been made towards Sustainability, with a capital S, over the past decade. In the world at large we have seen changes such as the ubiquity of hybrid vehicles, green jargon, like ‘carbon footprint’ and ‘carbon neutral,’ and CFLs and LED light bulbs in our homes. Here is our list of the top eight changes seen in the library, museum, and collections world over the ...

The Kimberly-Clark RightCycle Program now accepts and recycles protective eye wear, in addition to K-C brand nitrile gloves and Tyvek items. Email rightcycle@kcc.com to get started. Don't use Kimberly-Clark brand PPE? Opt for a TerraCycle box to recycle all glove types. 107 metric tons of PPE waste was diverted from landfills in 2018. Let's surpass that mark in 2019. #sustainability #Featured

Sustainability Committee guest post by Estelle De Bruyn . Our century faces two major challenges: diminishing oil reserves signal the end of our society's most common and inexpensive energy source (1), while climate change represents a serious danger for natural (2) and cultural ecosystems (3). As safe-keeper of our heritage in its broadest sense, it is also our duty and of cultural institutions to set an example. Could it be an opportunity to re-examine conservation standards and practices that were introduced in a world where the cost and availability of energy were very different from our own? “Sustainability” is a controversial concept; it is ...

The AIC Sustainability Committee had the honor of representing the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) at the first-ever Climate Heritage Mobilization event at the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit held September 12-13th in San Francisco, CA. The Mobilization is “devoted to the role of cultural heritage and historic preservation – tangible and intangible- in Climate Action. Its aim is to highlight how heritage actors can help their communities achieve their climate targets and the ambitions of the Paris Agreement with an emphasis on integrated nature-culture approaches.” The event was organized with support from the ...

The Sustainability Committee (SC) seeks abstracts for papers to be presented at the upcoming AIC Annual Meeting in Uncasville, CT and New England, May 13-17, 2019. This year's theme is "New Tools, Techniques, and Tactics in Conservation and Collection Care." Submission of original research and work related to the theme are welcome, and any submissions related to sustainable conservation and preservation will be considered. Topic ideas include: - How does sustainability affect how you select, use, and dispose of materials? - Have you developed any new tools or tactics to make your practice more sustainable? - Have you implemented more sustainable ...