Decolonization, sustainability and museums. International cooperation with Africa from El Museo Canario

Abstract

Museums are inclusive non-profi t institutions that foster diversity and sustainability by engaging communities. In their responsibil ity as actors for refl ection and critical thinking, museum institu tions have a great potential for social transformation, both in their location and in the territories around them. In this context, it is necessary to confront the processes of decolonization of muse ums, in order to return to the people the identity plundered during the colonial era. Sustainability cannot be understood without in cluding the decolonizing approach, making protagonists of those communities that were once treated as objects. Funded in 1879, El Museo Canario is the institution responsible for the conservation, research and dissemination of the historical and cultural heritage of the Canary Islands. The Museum con siders Sustainability as a strategic objective both in management and in the content of activities, for which it integrates in all its programs the relationship with the environment and its transfor mation throughout history. This institution develops international cooperation projects with Africa that promote culture, social in novation, governance, gender, leadership and inclusive migration. This paper addresses decolonization as a process intrinsic to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, and specifi cally studies how a museum can carry out cooperation from the Canary Islands with West Africa, through the analysis of the case study of the international cooperation for development activity of the Scientifi c Society The Canarian Museum, taking advantage of the potential of historical heritage as a vector of integration.