Environment and sustainability at ARA’s 2025 Conference

Last year’s conference had as its main theme sustainability and we continue to provide a focus on how we can all tackle climate change and balance environmental sustainability with the sustainability of the service we provide as record keepers.

This year we are in Bristol, and online, from 27-29th August. The full programme with full abstracts can be found here: https://openingdoors.eventsair.com/ara2025/programme

Registration closes on 5th August.

Below is a selection of sessions from our programme that look at sustainability and the environment.

Wednesday

Workshop: Get up, stand up: simple clear supports for temporary exhibitions

Mrs Victoria Stevens, Subject Lead Tutor, Books Programme, West Dean College Of Arts, Design Craft and Conservation

The use of acrylics, such as Perspex, to create temporary exhibition stands is costly, both financially and in terms of its poor sustainability credentials. An alternative is offered in Vivak™, one of the trade names for polyethylene terephthalate glycol, or PETG, sheeting. This workshop will take participants through some of the options for using this material specifically for supporting archive material when on display. Each participant will create a small upright stand, a document slope and a display cube. The session will also demonstrate the use of Vivak™ as a transparent and flexible holding material for bound material when on display.

60 Minute Workshop: Building Better Homes: Rethinking enclosures for historic plans and drawings

Ms Hannah Milton, Archivist and Curator of the Architectural Drawings Collection, Historic Royal Palaces and Madeleine Marshall and Avery Bazemore, Conservator (Preventive/Tower Bridge), The London Archives

How can archivists and conservators with limited funds ensure the best care for plans and drawings through packaging solutions? Inspired by DIY culture and underpinned by the principles of sustainability, our workshop will explore ways to improve access to architectural and technical drawings by upcycling their existing packaging.

Record-keeping Strategy 2025 onwards

This session will launch ARA's 2025-30 strategy following the consultation that took place at the end of 2024 and through the Spring of 2025.

Adapting skills in a changing workplace
Ms Noeleen Schenk, Director and Ms Siobhan King, Senior Consultant, Metaxis

The workshop format will consist of a mix of small group working and facilitated group discussions, designed to encourage a wide-ranging exploration of our skills and the proactive steps we can all take to engage with our organisations to recognise them.

The tone and aim of this interactive workshop is to enthuse delegates and make them realise how valuable and transferable many of our skills really are and encourage them to look forward to the future, confident that they have a place in it.

Towards a Carbon Literate workforce: One year review and next steps from The National Archives
Dr Helen Wilson, Sector Development Manager - London And Science & Technology & Mr Tim Powell, Places of Deposit Manager, The National Archives, UK

The Carbon Literacy for Archives, Records and Special Collections Shareable Course, was launched at ARA 2024. Since then, The National Archives has been rolling out the training to archives across England with great success. We have been increasing the reach of the training by sharing the course materials with qualified members of the archive sector, in order for them to roll it out themselves to their organisations and networks. A year on from its launch, we evaluate the success of this training, highlight how you can access it, and announce our plans for further sector support in this area over the coming year.

Thursday

Shut down – switch on: empowerment, problem solving and plugging a gap

Amy Sampson, The National Archives and Sirpa Kutilainen, University of Brighton Design Archives

This talk will summarise how a group of people who found themselves lacking either information, support or - in many cases – both, were brought together through their shared experiences and created the support network to challenge this. It will outline how we, the group coordinators, have tackled the challenges of providing organised support, worked to understand what the members want, and our ambitions to further grow the HVAC Shutdown Group and continue to forge connections that prove transformative for future change.

Workshop: What is archive conservation in 2025?

Ann Attwood, Gloucestershire Archives

Amid all the specialist technical knowledge, how are we interrogating our choices to safeguard and minimise the risk to our collections? How do we turn risks and threats into opportunities, making the maximum impact with often limited resources and the ever-present call for income generation? In this session we will explore options together and revisit responsibilities. Through participation in 3 focussed breakout sessions, we will take a fresh look at our approach in the light of the climate crisis, limited resources and the demands of ethical conservation practice. A fast-paced, and light touch look at the bigger picture

Harmonising existing knowledge with modern innovation: advancing archival storage on a truly sustainable path
Mr Mark Barry, Director, Architype
Ms Gael Dundas, Imperial War Museum

The environmental impact of digital information management: it's time to think about sustainable practices
Ms Joy Siller, Managing Director, Siller Systems Administration

This paper will raise awareness of current sustainability issues including digital waste, energy use, the surge of artificial intelligence and cloud use, and the consequences of information appraisal, storage and preservation decisions and actions. It will discuss possible action and further steps that need to be taken by information managers and their colleagues.

Friday

Full Circle: Why Jaguar Heritage Trust safeguarded historical data onto photo-sensitive film - stored forever in the Arctic Circle

Mr. Simon Clark, Ceo, Simon Clark Limited and Ms. Joanne Shortland, Head Archivist, Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust

Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust (JDHT) and Simon Clark Limited (SCL) will discuss the challenges involved in ensuring key digital artefacts will be available for future generations and will show how photo-sensitive film offers a real alternative to more common data preservation methods.

Panel Session: Life after Hanwell: options, ideas, support

Elizabeth Stettler, Preventative Conservator Projects, Royal Armouries; Mr Pedro Maximo Rocha, Senior Conservation Scientist, The National Archives and Rhiannon Griffiths, Gwent Archives

After the news that Hanwell, one of the biggest environmental monitoring software and hardware suppliers in heritage in the UK, announced they would no longer be serving their customers, many institutions were shocked. What do we do now? Join us in this panel session to find out how a few archives are handling this change, learn about the many environmental monitoring system options, and bring your own ideas and solutions to share in an open discussion.

Learning from the Christchurch disasters of 2011 and 2015. Old problems – new solutions

Mrs Lynn Campbell, Paper Conservator, Campbell Conservation

On Saturday 4th September 2010, Canterbury, New Zealand was shaken by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. The epicentre was 40 kilometres west of Christchurch and had a focal depth of 10 km causing widespread damage. On the 22nd of February at 12.55 pm there was a 6.3 magnitude aftershock that devastated central Christchurch. 14 years later what can be seen to have changed? Have the archives and libraries recovered? What new strategies and procedures have been put in place to ensure no damage occurs to their collection again?

Facing the future: Reimagining environmental monitoring

Mrs Amy Sampson, Preservation Manager and Mr Pedro Maximo Rocha, Senior Conservation Scientist, The National Achives

Storage Environmental Close Control Issues

Mr Richard Aitken, Senior Conservator, High Life Highland Archive Service

HVAC shutdown and alternative environmental control methods

Ann Attwood, Gloucestershire Archives

Old challenges, new solutions: Gloucestershire Archives has been working with Nick Grant at Elemental Solutions to decommission air conditioning plant and install more energy efficient control methods. This paper will describe the journey we have taken and the solutions we have adopted resulting in low energy control, lower running and maintenance costs and reduced carbon emissions.

Future First - How to remain sustainable in IM
Mrs Anne Cornish, Ceo. Rimpa Global

This interactive and engaging workshop presentation will challenge participants to think critically about the future of the industry and their role within it. The session will explore and evaluate the key aspects of current practices, including the skills required to remain competitive, the changes needed in practices and processes, and how we can reimagine the delivery of our services to meet evolving demands. Beyond operational shifts, the workshop will emphasise the importance of mindset, encouraging participants to adopt forward-thinking attitudes that embrace innovation and adaptability.

At the conference

We have chosen a venue that is easy to reach via public transport to encourage sustainable travel.

The venue is Green Key Certified and provides recycling in guest rooms. There are also water stations so that delegates can use refillable bottles for refreshment throughout the conference. We have asked that the catering for the conference makes vegetarian and vegan the dominant option (but there will also be meat and fish options for those who want them).

We also aspire to a paperless conference and provide an app for delegates to access the programme and venue information – which also provides opportunities for networking.

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Registration for the 2025 Distance Enquiry Services Survey is now open