As a social actor, Moesgaard has a mission to make the great world-historical and cultural contexts accessible and understandable to a broad public audience.
The sustainable development at Moesgaard should support our mission and task in society. Moesgaard has therefore prioritised the sustainable approach as an integrated part of the museum’s organisation and strategy.
Moesgaard’s sustainability strategy is based on detailed analysis that has been carried out in the past years, Based on this, some input and focus areas have been identified, which have been chosen against the background of information from Moesgaard’s climate budget, organisational strategy, criteria for binding certifications and partnerships, as well as social development.
The strategy outlines the framework for the museum’s sustainability work and is based on five binding focus areas:
◀ ARCHAEOLOGY
◀ EXHIBITIONS
◀ OPERATIONS & RESOURCES
◀ AREAS & BIODIVERSITY
◀ SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Moesgaard’s focus on sustainable involves CIRCULARITY and MOBILITY, which must be incorporated into and prioritised across the whole organisation.
Moesgaard was one of the first museums in Denmark that was certified and awarded the environment mark, Green Attraction, in 2022, which is an environmental certification used for Denmark's attractions. We are committed to specific environmental criteria which are updated every year. In 2024, Moesgaard fulfilled 78% of the criteria, with the minimum requirement being 40%.
To ensure that we improve our efforts, we are continuously adopting a position towards HORESTA’s new criteria, whilst revisiting the old ones, which may be associated with improvement potential.
Moesgaard works closely with Aarhus Municipality, which has set ambitious sustainability targets to achieve a 70% CO2e reduction by 2030. We therefore continuously participate in the municipality’s partnerships for sustainable development. In 2022 we joined the Climate Alliance (Klimaalliancen), in 2023 KulturxKlima and recently in 2025 Energisprint. These networks are facilitated by the municipality, but are made up of local organisations and companies, which spar with one another and collaborate on new, sustainable solutions.
In 2024, Moesgaard signed Moesgaard Museernes Grønne Akademis Green Charter, which is a branch-orientated charter that sets clear, but ambitious and binding goals for the museums’ sustainable development at a systematic and organisational level.
As a signatory to the charter, Moesgaard has to produce an annual report, in which the museum documents its strategic sustainability goals for the organisation, competence development, communication and ESG reporting. In addition, Museernes Grønne Akademi facilitates a network of the 40 participating museums, offers tools and courses, and develops projects for sustainable change in the museum branch.