Museums and Sustainability: Douglas Worts Talks Tonight @ OISE

Just got a last-minute announcement for what looks like an interesting talk tonight at the University of Toronto Museum Studies Speaker Series:

Douglas Worts: Museums, Cultural Heritage and the Culture of Sustainability

Monday, November 9
5-7 pm

Douglas Worts is a consultant working on sustainability and culture issues and former long-term staff at the Art Gallery of Ontario where he introduced many innovations in public work and visitor research for the museum.

How can humanity create a ‘culture of sustainability’ within our increasingly pluralist, urban communities? Currently, cultural heritage organizations, like museums and art galleries, historic and natural heritage sites, do little to reflect or engage the living cultures of our societies and the environments they inhabit. They have the ability to do so – although it will require a complete reassessment of what these organizations assume are the cultural needs of our communities. New professional competencies and novel approaches to public engagement strategies will have to replace old institutionalized structures and traditional programs if these organizations hope to engage the cultural pulse of our cities.

I'm particularly interested in Worts' studies because I'm the bizarre holder of both a BSc in physical geography/environmental studies and a BFA in fine arts. Most of the time, I think this means I just can't make up my mind about what I'm interested in... other times I do write articles about art and sustainability themes... and other times I just enjoy not being alone in my interest. So there! If you're interested in finding out more, I suggest one of Worts' reports/blogs Museums in the Winds of Change.

Image of the Montreal Biodome from Hotel Europa