How sustainable is your archive? A new online self-assessment tool developed through the EU Sustainable Archives and Greener Approaches (SAGA) project offers archival institutions a practical way to evaluate their environmental performance and identify opportunities for improvement.
The Self-Assessment Environmental Sustainability Monitoring Tool was developed by the Clean Technology Centre and the Department of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) at Munster Technological University. It is designed to provide quick, accessible feedback that can help archives become more sustainable, operate more efficiently, and potentially reduce operational costs.
The web-based tool guides users through a structured questionnaire covering four key sustainability domains:
- Energy
- Water
- Waste
- Management practices
The questions focus on practical, real-world behaviours and operations, making the tool suitable for users with different levels of expertise. After completing the assessment, institutions receive:
- A sustainability maturity score
- A thematic breakdown of results
- Actionable recommendations tailored to their responses
Beyond providing an initial snapshot, the tool can support longer-term sustainability planning. Archives can use it to identify priority areas for improvement, inform resource allocation, and track progress over time through repeat assessments.
As cultural heritage institutions increasingly seek to reduce their environmental impact while maintaining high standards of preservation and access, practical tools such as this can serve as valuable entry points for sustainability awareness and action.
We pleased to share this resource with the wider community and encourages archival institutions to explore how it can support their sustainability journey.