Sustainable Exhibitions: Reducing Environmental Impact in the Arts

One-time Payment

189.00 € (incl. VAT)

Live sessions

2 hrs/week

Exhibitions often rely on unsustainable materials, energy-intensive logistics, and short-term production cycles, yet exhibition-makers rarely have the training to address these challenges. This course equips art professionals with the skills to plan and produce environmentally sustainable exhibitions. From reducing carbon emissions to applying circular design principles, you will learn how to align curatorial goals with climate responsibility.

Through critical discussion, interactive exercises, and hands-on assignments, you will discover how to:

Evaluate and minimize the environmental impact of materials, production, and logistics
Apply circular economy principles to exhibition production
Reduce emissions across every phase of exhibition-making (transport, exhibition spaces, digital media)
Communicate sustainability goals clearly and credibly in funding proposals, institutional policies, and team collaborations

Over five weeks, you will apply proven tools and best practices to an artwork or installation of your choice (real or imagined), using it as a case study to test sustainable decision-making in context. By the end of this course, you’ll have the resources and confidence to champion holistic sustainability in your curatorial practice and institutional contexts.

This course is designed for visual art practitioners (independent curators, museum and gallery staff, art handlers and technicians) involved in any aspect of exhibition-making and already have some familiarity with its general processes.

Image credits: Qihai Weng via Unsplash

Session 1: Introduction Session

This one-hour session serves as an introduction to the instructor, participants, and the course overall. You will select an artwork or installation to serve as your case study for the course.

Session 2: Choosing Sustainable Exhibition Materials

In Session 2, you will learn to procure exhibition materials based on sustainability principles.

We will cover:

Waste and recycling streams
How to differentiate between biodegradable vs. compostable materials
How to critically interpret the sustainability claims of materials and services, including bioplastics, greenwashing tactics, and the recycling myth

Session 3: Measuring the Socio-Environmental Impact of Exhibitions

In this Session, you will learn to work with sustainability metrics and digital tools (such as carbon calculators) to assess the socio-environmental impact at different stages and sources of the exhibition process.

We will cover:

The differences between key terms: carbon footprint vs. carbon emissions vs. GHG, and Scope 1,2,3 emissions
How to use the GCC carbon calculator and STiCH carbon calculator to evaluate the carbon footprint of transport, climate-controlled spaces, and production
Additional resources for holistic evaluation of the exhibition’s impact beyond the carbon footprint

Session 4: Implementing Sustainable Principles in an Exhibition’s Life Cycle

In Session 4, you will practice embedding circular principles in exhibitions and discover further strategies to lower environmental impact across planning, transportation, installation, and deinstallation.

We will cover:

Circular economy and zero waste applied to exhibition scenarios
What not to do: problematic exhibition practices and alternative solutions
Repurposing exhibition materials (sharing and reuse platforms, engaging local communities and makers)
Digital footprint and strategies to lower its impact
Developing a shipping strategy using sustainable packing materials and methods
Planning for the afterlife of artworks

Session 5: Communicating Sustainability

In the final Session, we will focus on how to credibly communicate sustainability goals in funding proposals, institutional policies, and collaborations.

We will cover:

Embedding sustainability in loan agreements
Becoming acquainted with environmental responsibility riders for use in commissioned and collaborative projects
Navigating sustainability and conservation considerations between artists and institutions (“Objects as Temporal Entities” riders)
Communicating sustainability for various stakeholders (funders, audiences, and collaborators)

Language
Classes are held in English.

Format & Modality
The course is fully online and taught live via Zoom in small, interactive groups to support active learning. Live captioning is available during the sessions.

Schedule
Live sessions take place every (Day) from (Time) (Berlin time, CEST).

Attendance
Live attendance is encouraged to get the most out of the course, but recordings are available if you cannot attend a session.

Course Materials
All course materials—including recordings, readings, and presentations—are available on the Node platform for as long as you wish.

Assignments
Optional assignments are included, with personal feedback from the lecturers to help you apply what you learn. Please note that feedback is provided only during the course dates.

Certificate
A downloadable certificate is available upon course completion.

Technical Requirements
A stable internet connection, a computer with a camera and microphone, and access to Zoom are required.

Questions?
Check our FAQ or contact us via our online form.