Sustainable Environmental Conditions for Safeguarding Collections: A Decade in Review

This paper explores the complex question of sustainable temperature and relative humidity settings for climate control in museums and historic houses. This is presented as a multi-focused review of the profession’s progress over the past decade following the adoption in 2014 of the IIC and ICOM-CC Declaration on Environmental Guidelines which has been an instrumental reference point for challenging collection care guideline discussions and complex decision-making in the midst of a rapidly changing world. Two case studies which outline research and transition pathways to wider temperature and relative humidity ranges for collections care are presented by English Heritage Trust (UK) and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (Australia). A global survey on guidelines and environmental conditions in museums was conducted ahead of the development of the Declaration. A targeted survey was recently repeated but expanded to include sustainability issues, the results of which are discussed in detail. This paper is further illustrated with evidential climate and environmental research.