Report on the organisation of museum activities in the transport and communications sector published
The Ministry of Transport and Communications has published a report by Senior Specialist Risto Hakomäki from the National Board of Antiquities, who was appointed to examine the organisation of museum activities in the transport and communications sector.
The study sought ways to secure the administrative and financial operating conditions for museums in the sector, and found a number of options for the sustainable development of museums and museum sites.
Previously, the Ministry of Transport and Communications has supported museums in its sector through state subsidies. At present, however, it does not have a budget item for the subsidies.
The law obliges the Transport Infrastructure Agency to ensure the maintenance of its sites that are valuable in terms of cultural history. The Agency manages, for example, museum roads, bridges and railways as well as railway bridges, lighthouses, vessels and buildings of the Railway Museum.
The Museums Act, which entered into force on 1 January 2020, also had an impact on the content of the report. With the Act, the structure of the field of Finland's professional museums changed. Currently, there are 32 museums with regional responsibility and 17 museums with national responsibility.
The study also examined the administrative and financial structures of the Automobile and Road Museum Mobilia, and the deepening of cooperation between the Aviation Museum and the Air Force Museum. The strategic development of the Railway Museum was also examined.
The report incluces a total of 30 proposed measures.
In addition, the report takes a position on the corporate social responsibility of state-owned companies operating in the sector when it comes to support for museum activities.
What are the next steps?
The measures proposed by the rapporteur will be assessed in connection with discussions on the museum and heritage activities of the Transport and Communications Agency.
Inquiries
Miikka Rainiala, Director of Unit, tel. +358 50 571 7751
Valtioneuvoston julkaisuarkisto: Liikenne- ja viestintäalan museotoiminnan järjestäminen : Selvitys malleista joilla turvataan hallinnolliset ja taloudelliset edellytykset alan museoille (Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriön julkaisuja 2020:10)
