The Children in Museums Award 2017
Congratulations to this year’s winner: Tekniska Museet,The National Museum of Science and Technology, Stockholm, Sweden!
At a lively ceremony which took place on the evening of Wednesday 11 October at the Hands On! Conference in Pilsen, Czech Republic, the results of the 2017 Children in Museums Award were announced. 20 museums took part in the competition this year, with a short-list of ten finalists listed below. The entries were of an extremely high quality and a real testament to the growing maturity of a relatively new field for the museum profession.
THE JUDGES SAID: We were unanimous in our decision to make the National Museum of Science and Technology the winner of the 2017 Children in Museums Award. Its innovative approaches to foster curiosity, creativity for neuroscience and the brain’s extraordinary abilities from a contemporary perspective are highly praised. There is a great focus on availability as an expression of the museum’s comprehensive and consistently implemented strategic renewal to be a place for everyone. MegaMind, with its high quality design, total accessibility and basis of serious research and development of contents reaches a new level in children’s museums, while acknowledging that there has to be a permanent process of development and change to reflect present-day questions and challenges. Our warmest congratulations go to the museum on this remarkable achievement.
The winner receives a cash prize of 5,000 Euros and holds for one year a bronze statue of Miffy, the world-famous children’s character, created by Dick Bruna. The sculptor is Marc Bruna, Dick Bruna’s son.
THE SPONSOR: Grateful thanks are due to Mercis BV for their generous sponsorship of the Award.
Short list 2017
Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery Melbourne Museum, Melbourne, Australia
Alice- Museum für Kinder Berlin, Germany
EPIC- The Irish Emigration Museum Dublin, Ireland
Children’s Museum Jordan Amman, Jordan
Netherlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid Hilversum, The Netherlands
Naturalis Biodiversity Center Leiden, The Netherlands
Maritime Museum Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Natuurmuseum Brabant Tilburg, The Netherlands
Centraal Museum – Miffy Museum Utrecht, The Netherlands
National Museum of Science and Technology Stockholm, Sweden
