Happy Museums promotes commitment to a sustainable future in the Swiss museum and exhibition sector, thereby contributing to a more sustainable global future.
The aim is to get as many museums and exhibition venues as possible to address the topic of sustainability. Internal processes, exhibition activities and the conveying of cultural content are to be made more sustainable, and visitors as well as the public are to be inspired to change old behaviours and habits.
“Happy Museums – Nachhaltigkeit konkret!” (Happy Museums – putting sustainability into practice) is Switzerland’s first-ever project in the museum and exhibition sector that links up various sustainability efforts and initiatives and puts them under a single roof. It also offers associated information and advisory services. In the planning of Happy Museum activities, the main focus always lies on participation.
Since 2021 Happy Museums has been conducting an annual incentive day for museum and exhibition professionals, at which ideas are exchanged and ideas for solutions pooled. Both successful and unsuccessful projects are presented, specific activities are planned and networks are expanded. All of this serves to boost mutual support. Tools by which museums can address ecological, social and economic issues are devised in collaboration with the museums themselves. This resulted, for example, in the launching of the first CO2 calculator for museums in autumn 2023.
The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia supports Happy Museums as a pioneering project in the fields of events and work tools for ecology and climate.