ARA Environmental Sustainability Group
The ARA Environmental Sustainability Group launched on Earth Day 2022. The purpose of this new group is to advocate for environmental sustainability in the record-keeping sector and to provide the tools and resources to help members enact this professional duty to the environment. A duty that is outlined in the ARA code of ethics, ‘Insofar as it is within their power to do so, members [of the ARA] should minimise the adverse effects of their work on the environment’.
Georgina Robinson initiated the setting up of the group after undergoing a study into climate action and UK record-keeping. The study found that many UK information professionals felt they had a professional duty to the environment, but found there were many barriers to action, including limited knowledge about sector-specific climate action and little support from professional bodies. Another barrier to action, hinted at in the wording of the code of ethics by ‘within their power’, is that we do not always have the power to take climate action in our workplace.
The group aims to challenge these barriers and to equip members with the knowledge to enact and advocate for climate action in the record-keeping sector.
Aims and Objectives
Following a call for applications to the new group, the assembled executive committee met for the first time on the 5th May 2022 to discuss the Terms of Reference. The main aims of the group relate to four areas: research, training, advocacy and collaboration.
Research - The group aims to research sector-specific climate risks and impacts. This will include researching the environmental impact of analogue and digital record-keeping practices and how negative impacts can be mitigated and researching how to ensure the safety of our collections by responding to environmental changes and disaster planning.
Understanding that some people in the recordkeeping sector felt that they do not have the power to implement climate action in their workplace, the group also aims to identify and provide resources on the best means of communicating the significance of environmental sustainability and climate action to both external and internal stakeholders, including senior management.
Training - The group will aim to provide training to members of the ARA and the wider record-keeping sector by hosting lectures, workshops and training events to facilitate knowledge sharing on the intersection between records and the environment.
Advocacy - To advocate and encourage consideration of environmental sustainability and climate action in the workplace, the group will:
raise awareness of existing ‘green’ standards, strategies and best practice.
advocate for environmental sustainability to be factored into future sectoral standards and guidelines
raise awareness of the potential for archives to aid research into climate change and work with stakeholders to encourage their preservation and access.
deliver research and advocate for environmental sustainability through publicly accessible means, e.g. through social media campaigns.
Collaboration - Finally, the group will aim to aid and collaborate with other groups and sectors in research, training and advocacy of environmental sustainability and climate action.
Meet the committee
Chair - Georgina Robinson is an archivist at Eton College Archives. She is interested in the intersection between records and the environment and wrote her MA dissertation on attitudes and efforts to implement climate action by UK information professionals in 2020, which was adapted for publication in the Records Management Journal in a special issue on records management in the Anthropocene (Issue 3, 2021).
Secretary - Amy Cawood has recently taken up the role of Lothian Health Services Archive Manager based at the University of Edinburgh. Amy has worked in a wide range of sectors: NHS, university library, special collections, an Oxford College and the Civil Service and has witnessed across the information professions a rapidly increasing awareness of our impact on the environment and is keen to understand more about our personal and professional role in environmental sustainability.
Communications and Events Officer - Aimy Stevens has a background in filmmaking, with a recent focus on a documentary production utilising archival footage. Through this project, Aimy developed a deep interest in Archives, particularly Digital Preservation. Witnessing the value of preserving historical materials led Aimy to recognise the importance of sustainable practices in preserving our past for future generations. Aimy is currently a volunteer at LJMU Special Collections and Archives and on a work experience placement with Unilever Art, Archives and Records Management. As her placement at Unilever concludes in March, Aimy will be joining St Helens Archive Service as a volunteer. Aimy is currently preparing to join the MA Archives and Records Management course at the University of Liverpool. Aimy is thrilled to be a part of the Committee for the opportunity to learn and expand her network.
Research Officer - Alasdair Bachell is currently a project archivist at the University of Dundee and was previously the archivist for the energy company SSE, working at Pitlochry power station. He completed his PhD in Energy in 2021 which looked at the potential for the reuse of historic mill sites as hydropower generators in the Highlands & Islands. He is particularly interested in the intersection of heritage and sustainable energy use.
Research Officer - Sal Mager is Senior Archivist at Shropshire Archives where she has worked for most of her career. Having been actively engaged in climate campaigning over the past few years, she has increasingly felt a disconnect between this and her professional life. Encouraged by progress made in the wider Culture and Heritage sector to clarify its role around climate issues, she is keen to help the archive profession do the same, especially in the areas of education and facilitating conversations as well as action.
Research Officer - Stacey Anderson, RMARA AFHEA, is The Box, Plymouth’s Media Archivist, a role held since 2017. This role has responsibility for the development and care of the film, photographic and digital holdings. Stacey has co-delivered the MA Archival Practice (a partnership programme between The Box and Plymouth University) and lead on the Sound and Vision Module of the programme. Stacey has worked as Archive Manager for the South West Image Bank (SWIB) and as Archive Director for the South West Film & Television Archive (SWFTA). Stacey has developed a very keen interest in the impact of archival practice on the environment, in particular digital archiving – and is looking forward to delivering a presentation at ARA Conference this year focusing on Digital Decarbonisation.
Research Officer – Alex Buchanan is Reader in Archival Studies at the University of Liverpool and former President of the ARA. She has long-standing interest in sustainability, including research into how archives can support local food movements (www.mrseelsgarden.org), alternative economies (http://www.transitionresearchnetwork.org/sustaining-time.html) and supervising doctoral research in related areas. She is also a member of the ARA Ethics Working Group.
Get in Touch
If you would like to know more about this group, please contact us at ARAenvironment@archives.org.uk You can also follow us on Twitter @ARAEnvironment