ABSTRACT
The concerns and projects of environmental history fit so well into the Anthropocene epoch that many museums and galleries around the world have turned to environmental history in creating and delivering their exhibitions and programmes. This chapter showcases environmental history as it is practised in museums and galleries and details the important collaborative opportunities that can occur in the museum and gallery setting. The chapter highlights a number of recent projects completed at the National Wool Museum in Australia, the Estonian National Museum, and BIOTOPIA in Germany. Throughout, focus is given to the ways that environmental history can engage in core areas of gallery and museum functions such as exhibitions, collections, and public programmes, and what sorts of futures museums might offer to new audiences who have grown up with a world already in environmental crisis. Engaging audiences’ museums not only showcases environmental pasts but becomes places of collaboration and discussion around environmental challenges and potential futures.
