27 Sep Business Bites: Sustainability in Business Archives (Sept 2023)
Our September Business Bites session looked at ‘Sustainability in Business Archives’. This event was open to ALL and held online.
Environmental Sustainability is an incredibly important topic and conversations centred on how archive become more environmentally sustainable and have a positive impact on the world they operate in are becoming essential.
This event focused on the experiences of two practitioners doing a range of work in this field and the small steps that business archivists and record keepers can take that will lead to big wins in becoming more environmentally sustainable. Our two speakers were Alex Buchanan from the University of Liverpool and Alexandra Wade of London Metropolitan Archives.
Alex Buchanan is Reader in Archive Studies at the University of Liverpool, Programme Director of the Masters in Archives and Records Management and Co-Director of the Liverpool Centre for Archive Studies. She is a long-term advocate for environmental sustainability: back in 2009, LUCAS hosted one of the first UK events on sustainability in archives; she was part of the steering group that saw the introduction of a commitment to minimising environmental impact in the ARA Code of Ethics and is now a member of the ARA’s Environmental Sustainability group. This presentation shared her experiences in this area across the fields of research, education and professional development.
Alexandra Wade is an Assistant Conservator at London Metropolitan Archives responsible for Collections Care, packaging and IPM. She is currently working toward her accreditation in Collections Care and has seven years of conservation experience. She has worked on a wide range of tasks from NMCT funded manuscript care, to surveys, re-housing and IPM projects. She is also the Archive’s Green Group Lead, looking for practical and workable solutions to waste management within the Conservation and Archives sector, whilst adhering to standards and good practice.
For the last decade the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) has been on a journey to develop a Green Policy, and build a corporate culture of sustainability, which adheres to heritage industry standards and goes further to protect the environment. In this presentation, the LMA shared how it has achieved excellent sustainability credentials, and embedded innovative practices in the organisation, from policy to packaging. With a focus and dedication to Collections Care at the forefront and Sustainability as an equal partner, LMA is excited to share it’s unique ideas in making your archive work with the planet, not against it.