Sobrietatea digitală în muzee: conjugarea dezvoltării digitale și tranziția ecologică, misiune imposibilă?

Abstract

An integral part of our daily lives, the digital has been an essential part in new strategies formulated by museums and cultural institutions around the world in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. On numerous occasions, various studies have analyzed the impact that the pandemic had on the digital transformation of museums and other cultural spaces. A vector of democratization and inclusion, the digital offers unique aesthetic experiences, and technology is the spearhead launched by many museums to outreach new audiences. However, the acceleration of digital content opens up new issues and raises multiple questions, especially on the environmental and social impact. The digital is responsible for about 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. These issues are more relevant now that some museums are actively reflecting on whether to integrate or not NFTs (non-fungible tokens) or explore the metaverse. Can digital development be combined with the ecological responsibility approach in the case of cultural institutions? How can we build environmentally friendly digital strategies? What measures can museums take, in terms of digital impact, to plan for a sustainable future and limit global warming to 2° C? This article provides an introduction to the notion of digital sobriety and some practical ideas on how it can be adapted to museums, gathering reflections and examples of good practice, developed by cultural organizations around the world.