Museums and Galleries Strategy Resilience

Resilience

Scotland’s museums and galleries actively seek to adapt and evolve in response to social, economic, and environmental factors. With future sustainability an underpinning goal, museums and galleries collaborate to tackle challenges and maximise opportunities.

Outcome

Scotland’s museums and galleries operate on sustainable business models that reflect good financial practice and confidently demonstrate their value to society.

Sector actions

Undertake timely, informed, and effective organisational planning, governance, and delivery.
Increase and diversify sources of sustainable income.
Improve our ability to advocate for the value and impact of museums.

MGS actions

Create and share guidance on how to develop strong governance models and business plans.
Attract a diverse range of funders by advocating for the contribution of museums towards Scotland’s national wellbeing and economic prosperity.
Enable museums to develop resilient and enterprising business practices by delivering training and sharing learnings.

Resources

Find out more about the Financial Resilience priority area by reading articles, advice guides, blogs and case studies on the MGS website.

Focus On: Financial Resilience

This guide is full of resources to help you develop the financial resilience of your museum or gallery. It includes advice on fundraising, retail, grants, and training.

Advice topic: Finance and Fundraising

These guides offer information on tax relief, grants, and fundraising for museums and galleries.

Outcome

Scotland’s museums and galleries are environmentally sustainable organisations taking action to meet net zero targets.

Sector actions

Improve carbon literacy and the measurement of carbon use in our organisations.
Prioritise actions to reduce the carbon footprint of museums and galleries.
Improve the sustainability of museums and galleries by using circular economy principles, reducing waste, and supporting local suppliers.
Use collections, cultural programming, and indoor and outdoor spaces to help visitors to engage with the climate and biodiversity emergency.
Give consideration to the roles which museum buildings can have in the event of climate emergencies.

MGS actions

Share tools and resources to enable museums to take climate action, measure their environmental impact, and build their sustainability.
Develop climate sustainability networks and share best practice across the museum sector.
Support the museum sector’s transition to net zero by enabling access to skills training.
Facilitate the participation of museums in net zero strategies, opportunities, and programmes, and advocate for their contributions to climate action and biodiversity.
Through grant funding require supported projects to mitigate environmental impact and prioritise projects that support environmental sustainability and Net Zero targets reductions in carbon emissions.

Resources

Find out more about the Climate Action priority area by by reading articles, advice guides, blogs and case studies on the MGS website.

Focus On: Climate Action

Explore the resources in this guide to find out how to improve the environmental sustainability of your museum or gallery and engage with visitors on climate action.

Advice topic: Climate Action

Advice and tips on increasing the sustainability of museum and gallery spaces and engaging audiences with climate action.

Outcome

Scotland’s museums and galleries collaborate in and outside of the sector to tackle challenges, maximise opportunities, create efficiencies, and deliver mutual benefit for partners and communities.

Sector actions

Share expertise and resources in and across local, national, and international forums and networks.
Help improve places in collaboration with other organisations and community groups.
Develop positive and productive relationships with those who have local, national, and international connections to our collections.
Develop understanding of how museum resources – including people, buildings, and collections – can be used to meet community needs.
Work with national, regional, and local groups and agencies to support responsible tourism activities.

MGS actions

Showcase excellent practice of building sustainable relationships and developing effective, mutually beneficial partnership arrangements.
Forge relationships with and across Scottish Government departments.
Connect museums and galleries to culture sector and non-sector partners.

Resources

Find out more about the Collaboration priority area by reading articles, advice guides, blogs and case studies on the MGS website.

Focus On: Collaboration

Discover how your museum or gallery can benefit from a collaborative approach by reading through the resources in this guide.

Network: grassroots support groups

Grassroots support groups offer peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and support around areas of shared interest or identity. They may also include heritage sector campaign groups.