Museums in Danger

47th Conference 2024 from 8-11 September 2024 in Finland

The IATM community came together in Finland from 8 to 11 September 2024 to discuss museums in dangerous times. Besides traveling from Hyvinkää to Tampere, Kangasala, Vantaa (close to Helsinki) and Turku during the three day conference and study visit, delegates discussed their (shared) challenges. At “Museums in Danger“ the International Association of Transport and Communications Museums explored the value of networks and association, disaster preparedness, responses and responsibilities to urgent questions and building resilient institutions.


Sunday, 8 September 2024

This year the IATM conference was organised by our hospitable Finnish colleagues. On Sunday afternoon, 8 September 2024, we were received at the Finnish Railway Museum in Hyvinkää. Tiina Lehtinen, Director of the Museum, gave a warm welcome to the delegates. In addition, two guided tours of the museum were organized for us. Here, where the first private railway line in Finland opened in 1862, we were introduced to the history of the railways in Finland and the roundhouse at the centre of the museum complex. Afterwards, a dinner was organized in the museum building.


Monday, 9 September 2024

Fifty-six delegates travelled two hours to Tampere behind a historic diesel locomotive. During the ride, we were privileged to take a seat in the beautifully restored coaches, notably the Director’s Saloon. After lunch, the conference programme started at the Museum Centre Vapriikki, the home of five museums with a warm welcome speech by Joachim Breuninger, President of IATM. Joachim touched on the conference theme, the right topic at the right time in a world of climate change and post-Covid financial challenges.

Session 1: Challenges & Alliances

Peter Giere, Curator at the Museum of Natural History Berlin and Head of the Berlin Emergency Alliance then took the floor and introduced us to the theme of Emergency Preparedness in Museums – the Benefit of Emergency Alliances. In a light-hearted and clear manner, he warned of the dangers museums face and introduced us to the concept of emergency alliances across museums. The Berlin Alliance was set up in 2018. He reviewed potential (natural) disasters that threaten us and how we can and should prepare for them. At first, he pointed out the early problems that often arise during the construction phase of a museum. Then, he emphasized on the central themes to be prepared for: What could possibly happen? Subsequently, plan security for all aspects of the danger(s) you identified. In a bigger side note, he emphasized that the new risk of cyber-attacks and ransomware such as at the British Library needs to be addressed by us. Peter’s concluding message was to start small, make emergency plans against known risks, build alliances and set up a response unit. Much information about these themes can be found on the web, but we can always contact Peter  with questions about this theme.

Next up was the Workshop. Three Streams of Danger for Museums. Environmental, Financial and Deterioration of Collections Due to Storage and Use. This was led by IATM Board Members Meredith Greiling, Sam Mullins and Stephen Quick. The group was split into three subgroups, below is the output from their discussions:

Deterioration of collections, led by Meredith Greiling, Acting Keeper of Science and Technology, National Museums Scotland: This group discussed the recent ICOM Collections in Storage Working Group paper “Collections Storage Around the World“ (May 2024).  Many in the group raised concerns about their own museum buildings, in particular their storage capacity and suitability. Others identified risks including fire, flood, theft, pests, undocumented collections, hazardous materials, collections stored outdoors, insufficiently trained staff, and a lack of conservation skills. It was agreed that in the long term, although not everything in our collections will survive, a new generation will add new things to the collection in the future.

Environmental Dangers, led by Sam Mullins OBE, Director Emeritus of London Transport Museum: The discussion ranged across the retail supply chain, exhibition upcycling, green steam, ESG data and sustainable travel. ESG stands for the environmental, social, and governance factors that are measured to gain an impression of an institution’s sustainability efforts. In summary, we recognized that our museums’ environmental policies and performance were of growing importance to public trust and organizational reputations. This demanded that our museums should seek to collect data and secure certification for all aspects of our environmental footprint and, equally important, that we should explain this journey to our visitors.

Financial Challenges, led by Stephen Quick: The following issues were discussed:

  • lack of money during the “COVID-19 period“ resulted in insufficient reserves;
  • Financial concerns beginning to affect curatorial and collection priorities;
  • the costs of operating vintage vehicles are increasing;
  • Changing laws for railroad traffic;
  • Environmental concerns for running vintage vehicles and rail;
  • new government with non-cultural mandate;
  • No tax incentives for financial donors;
  • The process of sustainability certification creating new pressures;
  • Inflation and less useable income in the population to invest in cultural sector experiences;
  • Increase in costs to support an attractive visitor experience through interactive environments increasing IT costs;
  • Issue with next generation in finding new volunteers and less people retiring which leads to the need for more staff to sustain the experience;
  • Building owner more interested in capitalizing on real estate values than supporting museum lease;
  • Smaller local populations shift emphasis to reliance on tourism;
  • Shifting geographical alliances affecting tourism;
  • Increased cost of security;
  • Taking on a national mandate with increased costs but not necessarily increased funding;
  • a government that does not always understand the importance of culture for society.

»» N B: In addressing concerns and pressures institutions should adopt a holistic approach which doesn’t lose sight of priorities such as visitor experience, conservation, collection policies, education, and continued relevance in the society it serves as part of the formula for accessing necessary funding and support. 

News from the Field – IATM Members Share Their Current Highlights, Questions, Projects and Ideas

After the insightful discussions, the IATM members shared recents news and developments with each other. Below is a brief summary of these messages.

Kilian Elsassar, President Vintes: Industrial heritage is on the funding agenda in Switzerland.
Harald Elsner, Verein Verkehrsamateure und Museumsbahn e.V.: He raised his concerns about the reactivation of railway lines by the Deutsche Bahn. They may pose a threat to museum railways that could suddenly lose their right to exist.
Scott Marchand, Executive Director Pima Air & Space Museum: The Pima Air & Space Museum is a self-funded private organization that has transformed itself from a static to a dynamic museum. Due to the heat in Arizona, the museum attracts few visitors in the summer months. At the moment they are working on renewing their mission.
Anja Schaluschke, Director Museum for Communication Berlin: With a new web app the collection can be viewed in 3D, both at home and at the museum. It is rotatable, zoomable, contains technical functions and historical content. The QR codes in the exhibition also communicate with it.
Jiří Střecha, Director, Czech Postal Museum: The Czech department of the ICOM has built a mobile workstation for digitization and preservation in a container to help our postal museum colleagues from the Ukraine. 

This was followed by a short break before colleagues entered into the next session.

Session 2: Experiences (and Solutions) from around the Baltic Sea

Unfortunately, Richard Zima of the Hungarian Museum of Science, Technology and Transport was unable to attend and we could not welcome his talk on the museum and its challenging way between the construction of a new building and displaying its exhibitions at a former railway maintenance hall.

Tuomas Värjö, Boat and Boat Engine Collections, Forum Marinum: In response to the COVID-19 crisis the Baltic Museum Resilience Project has developed a museum toolbox. Together with museums from Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, and Poland, Forum Marinum aimed to enhance museum resilience for future crises. The exchange resulted in three main points: 1) digital transformation, 2) pushing towards digitalization, 3) reassigning staff resources. The focus of the toolbox is on virtual exhibitions and audience feedback. While virtual exhibitions are not an end but a tool, they can help to increase museum resilience. 

Next up, Heini Sorakivi, Project Manager at the Finnish Association of Traffic Museums (Trafiiki) highlighted the value of networks. The important message: We become stronger through associations. Trafiiki is a membership network of 10 communication and transport museums in eight cities in Finland. Founded in 2004 to share practice and training and to give shared responses to crises. In the case of Trafiiki, networking means preparation and response. From network building through blogs and meetings to providing a safety net. The associated museums are as a result more resilient museums. 

We concluded this day with time to walk around the Vapriikki Museum Centre hosted by the Postal Museum and the Finnish Museum of Games. Additionally, we had dinner at the Museum Centre’s Restaurant Valssi.


Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Session 3: Museums in Times of Change

We started with a visit to the Lenin Museum in Tampere. Where we received an introduction to the changing museum by Museum Director Kalle Kallio. He gave an enthusiastic tour of the museum that closed in November 2024. It will be the beginning of a major renovation to once again reflect the changing relationships between Finland and Russia. Afterwards, historic bus and Soviet-era limousines took us to Mobilia – Finnish Museum of Car and Road in Kangasala.

At Mobilia, Heidi Rytky, outgoing director of this museum (newly appointed as director of Vapriikki Museum Centre) welcomed all delegates. She took us through the mission, vision and organization of the museum. Among the key principles is building bridges, such as storing vehicles for other public collections. Her talk paved the way for the fourth session of our conference.

Session 4: Museums in Times of War

First up was Katariina Mauranen, Senior Curator, Vehicles and Engineering at London Transport Museum. The exhibition “Echoes of the Blitz“ was created to compare the current situation of sheltering on the metro in Kiev with the photos that were made in London during the “Blitz“ in the Second World War. Four themes create spaces to explore and compare the black and white (Blitz) and colour photos (Kiev). The exhibition’s development was met with different challenges that were turned into opportunities through creative ideas and a positive approach. As a result, the necessary reallocation of funds led to a sustainable solution for the gallery and allows for the exhibition to “travel“.

Yurii Savchuk, Director of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War gave a moving and impressive talk about a country at war and a museum’s response. As Director, he has collected material and histories in war zones to document the invasion and gather evidence. Since 2014, the museum has focused on the artifacts of the Russian invasion. Many exhibitions have been mounted both in Ukraine and in Europe. They are memorials of the war, child victims, fallen soldiers and more. Many items are from Russia. Among them is the symbolic sign of the Russia-Ukraine border with the direction arrows pointing away from each other and a photo of a shot-to-pieces statue of Lenin. New forms of communication on this subject are also being introduced, e.g. with a music festival. Additionally, Yurii shared some figures with us: In 2022, the museum held 5424 objects and welcomed 119,000 visitors. Both numbers increased in 2023 to 5579 and 285,000 respectively. In 2024, 207,000 visitors visited the museum that held 3100 objects.

By actively organizing exhibitions (75 in recent years) and also letting them “travel” to other countries (15), the museum draws attention to the horrors of this war. Several international prizes have been awarded. To conclude his talk, Yurii showed a photo presentation of the war in all its facets to us. Our moral support helps him and the museum enormously! He presented a country in danger and the agile response of its museums.

Katariina Mauranen talking about chances in challenges with “Echoes of the Blitz“ at London Transport Museum
Yurii Savchuk speaking about a museum’s response to war.

In light of the immanent dangers the Russian invasion presents, Matias Laitinen, Curator at the Finnish Aviation Museum, asked a complicated question. Are Aviation museums and collections more in danger during armed conflicts than other cultural institutions?

The starting point: Aviation museums are often located near airports. Especially in times of war, these turn into strategic logistical hubs while their runways become a target during air raids. Thus, it is crucial to be prepared. What are you going to preserve, how (quickly), and where to? How do you transport large objects (such as aircraft) in emergency situations and who has which task and responsibilities? Matias made the urgent plea to prepare now for something that will hopefully never happen.

Following this session, we held the IATM General Meeting. Separate reports will be provided to all IATM members in the near future.

Session 5: Sustaining Museums?

Unfortunately, Anni Antila, Development Manager at Mobilia could not give her talk on hobbies and their climate effects – particularly historic vehicles.

Elina Toukola, Mobilia’s Customer Service Manager, shared insights of the museum’s sustainability efforts. Sustainability is a top priority at Mobilia. As part of the process, the institution received the Eco Compass Certificate (ISO 14001). Among its ten focus areas are waste reduction, energy efficiency, communication, logistics and travel. For each, Mobilia found a suitable answer, e.g. sorting and reusing possible waste or generating energy from renewable sources. The latter also fed into the Sustainable Travel Finland Label which Mobilia received as well. In the museum’s case, the renewable sources comprise a wood chip power station and 450 solar panels. Additionally, LED lighting and a renewed more efficient air supply are ecologically sustainable.
Sustainable travel, actions in the socio-cultural and economic spheres (purchasing digital tickets, digital learning environment, preservation techniques online) add to the afore mentioned efforts. In the future, Elina will conquer questions of responsibility, perseverance, carbon footprint reduction, and digital waste.

To conclude this day there were guided tours of the museum, a stroll by the beautiful lake outside and of course a dinner. We returned to Tampere by historical bus.


Wednesday, 11 September 2024

We started this day with a bus trip from Tampere to the Finnish Aviation Museum. Located in Vantaa, close to Helsinki Airport, the museum is currently undergoing a major re-development. It is about to be transformed into a completely new aviation museum at a new location. We were taken through plans for the new museum and enjoyed guided tours through the museum to gain an impression of the process.

After this, the conference was closed. A big word of thanks and many compliments for the team that organized this conference over several days and locations! Thank you very much!


Thursday, 12 September 2024 (study day)
Post conference day.

A highlight of our annual conferences are the study visits on the last day. This time, we were warmly welcomed at Forum Marinum Maritime Centre in Turku.

Following a brief introduction to the museum, we explored the grounds during guided tours of the indoor museum and the outdoor areas where the large ships were visited.

After returning to Helsinki, the 47th IATM conference really came to an end. Our 48th Conference will take place in Frankfurt/Main and Mannheim, Germany from 14 to 17 September 2025.

Written by board members Peter-Paul de Winter and Sam Mullins, with additional contributions by Meredith Greiling and Stephen Quick, final edit for the website by Anne-Sophie Gutsche.