Sustainable Exhibition Design: Educating Through Eco-Friendly Practices

UNSW Library’s Exhibitions Program, launched in 2017, collaborates with partners across the university to develop and stage exhibitions that highlight diverse research outcomes and collections. Exhibitions serve as powerful educational tools by providing interactive and engaging ways to present information and allowing students to engage with content in a hands-on manner. The Exhibitions Program establishes the Library as a cultural centre point on campus where students, researchers, and the broader community can connect. It is also an opportunity for students to encounter leading research and ideas outside their nominated disciplines.

In 2025, UNSW Library will present an exhibition developed with the Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) to showcase Professor Veena Sahajwalla’s research that revolutionises recycling science and contributes to a more sustainable future. SMaRT technologies, including Green Steel and Green Ceramics, foster sustainable manufacturing practices and contribute to a circular economy. The exhibition will foreground SMaRT's research and highly collaborative practical solutions that reframe thinking about waste to recognise the value in materials that were once discarded but can be re-manufactured into new products.

Our approach towards delivering an exhibition that educates audiences about recycling science and sustainability involves using eco-friendly materials, such as reclaimed or upcycled items, and recyclable products to minimise our environmental impact. While we regularly reuse frames and other display assets previously saved from becoming waste, we are exploring new ways of locally manufacturing didactic panels with materials utilised by SMaRT that can recycled at the show's close. By adopting and integrating these strategies as a core component of the exhibition, we can reduce our carbon footprint while educating audiences about sustainable practices through demonstrable, real-world applications.