Skansen is the world’s oldest open-air museum, having opened its doors on 11th October 1891. During that same time, horses pulled trams over Djurgården Bridge and the first car was exhibited in Sweden. It would still be another 28 years before Swedish women would get the right to vote and another six before Djurgården would host the Stockholm World Fair.
Sustainability at Skansen
Today, Skansen is the place where past meets present. It’s also where imagination, knowledge, animals, culture, traditions and trends come together. The fact that sustainability is a big part of the work Skansen does probably won’t come as a surprise, but we’d still like to highlight their big achievement from 2019. They started by carrying out a relevance analysis related to the 169 targets within the 2030 Agenda. This included hosting workshops within different departments. Based on the results from the analysis and workshops, a plan of action was drawn up for their sustainability work going forward.
A partnership that turns manure into gold
In a place where lots of animals live and people visit, a lot of waste is produced. To minimise the amount that’s thrown away, Skansen sorts and re-uses as much waste as possible. As part of this, Skansen and Rosendal’s Garden came up with a fantastic partnership where Skansen delivers animal manure to Rosendal, and then one year later Rosendal turns it into compost to use in their gardens! This initiative not only reduces waste, it also saves on transportation costs and fuel. Skansen are even trying out the ’Bokashi’ process in their staff kitchen to help reduce food waste – go them!
Of course, not all of us are lucky enough to be neighbours with Skansen or Rosendal’s Garden. But the idea of coming up with creative partnerships with those close by is good for both the environment and the economy. We hope that this example can serve as inspiration!
Did you know…? The area adjacent to Skansen was previously occupied by Gröna Lund’s predecessor, Stockholm’s Tivoli, which was home to theatres, carousels, restaurants, exotic animals and even one of the first public dance floors in Stockholm. It was a firm favourite amongst Stockholmers. Eventually, Skansen was able to buy off the land from its competitor, and they incorporated Tivoli into the part of the museum known today as ’Galejan’.
Skansen works to reduce waste and provide sustainable experiences (12.2,5)
