Archiving the History of Environmentalism: Insights from Academia and Practice

This Forum considers the current state of archiving for the environmental movement at local, national and international levels. It responds to a gap that researchers of environmentalism have long been aware of, but one that is poorly understood from the perspective of records management and collections development practice. The Forum presents the views of archivists, librarians, experts in records management and historians to consider the implications of current practice on current and future research on the history of environmentalism. The discussion focuses on the records and archives of non‐profit and voluntary environmental organizations. Its remit has been informed by the definition of environmentalism under charity law in the United Kingdom but sets this in wider international perspective. This piece has emerged from conversations convened as part of the long‐running British Academy Research Project (ARP) ‘Archiving the Mixed Economy of Welfare’, which seeks to raise awareness of charity and voluntary sector archives.