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Contribution short abstract:

In this presentation, we will discuss museums' vital role in climate literacy, and explore the significance of intertwining historical narratives of human-climate interactions with contemporary societal concerns regarding climate change within museum exhibitions.

Contribution long abstract:

Museums are important actors within society, connecting its different sectors, acting as catalysts for change and playing an important role in building climate change literacy. Since the 1990s, concerns about climate change have materialized in exhibitions around the world. Interestingly, museums are only a minority in the set of spaces that create, promote, and receive these exhibitions: from around 200 exhibitions, from 1992 to 2018, less than 40 took place in museums. Climate exhibitions in natural history and science museums usually focus on the natural and physical sciences and present climate change from the deep past of Earth into a future of disasters. In these museums, the climate thematic exhibitions seem to make little contact with the recent human past, missing the opportunity for visitors to engage with the examples, lessons and experiences that the past offers. On the other hand, we can find examples of exhibitions or activities addressing recent past relations between society and climate in museums with more generalistic collections, such as historical, ethnic, archaeological and art collections. In this presentation, we will explore the significance of intertwining historical narratives of human-climate interactions with contemporary societal concerns regarding climate change within museum exhibitions, and discuss how historical research can function as a valuable tool, enabling a more profound understanding of the present climate crisis and the identification of common paths towards its resolution.