ABERDEEN City Council’s archives, gallery, and museums service (AAGM) is celebrating a raft of Green Tourism awards for four of its venues.
The city’s Art Gallery achieved Gold recognition, the highest award, with the Maritime Museum, Provost Skene’s House, and the Treasure Hub celebrating Silver status.
Green Tourism promotes greener ways for businesses and organisations to operate by offering advice on sustainability best practice – from ethical buying to reducing energy use.
The AAGM staff team was congratulated by the judges for displaying an ‘excellent’ understanding of sustainability and awareness of opportunities and challenges associated with running a responsible business.
The AAGM submissions were themed around people, places, and planet, with initiatives including establishing a regional recycling scheme for blue nitrile gloves routinely worn by staff when handling artworks and objects, and introducing recycled and plastic-free stock in the Maritime Museum and Art Gallery shops and cafe.
Bespoke packing materials used when lending artworks to other galleries and museum were also repurposed to be used as flower and vegetable planters for a community garden, with the council explaining that they are ‘difficult’ and ‘expensive’ to reuse for artworks.
David Jackson, VisitScotland regional director, said, “We must all play a role in preserving Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage. I’m thrilled to hear about AAGM’s Green Tourism Award successes.
“Sustainable tourism development is at the heart of what we do, working with partners to drive change and embed responsible practices across the industry. Our VisitScotland business support hub contains a plethora of essential advice, including a guide to net zero and information on how businesses can create a sustainability and climate action plan. We have a vision for Scotland to be the most economically, environmentally and socially sustainable destination in the world, so it’s great to see AAGM playing their part and demonstrating real leadership for the region.”
Councillor Miranda Radley, Aberdeen City Council’s tourism spokesperson and Visit Aberdeenshire Council director, added, “The Gold and Silver Green Tourism awards are fantastic newsfor visitors to the Art Gallery, Maritime Museum, Provost Skene’s House and Treasure Hub. We know from research with our visitors that climate change is an important issuefor them. The globally-recognised Green Tourism awards will give visitors the confidence that we are working towards a climate positive future where, alongside the art and history collection, we also value our planet as an irreplaceable treasure.”
