On 14 September 2010 the Ministry of Education and Culture appointed a committee to outline a policy and put forward proposals for the development of non-professionally managed local and home district museums and specialised museums and for ways to uphold local cultural heritage. The committee’s term ended on 31 December 2011.

The final report examines the local museum field based on a statistical survey conducted during the spring and summer of 2011. According to it, there are 730 local and home district museums managed by local authorities, associations and foundations which do not receive government subsidies. The local museums form a nation-wide network of low-threshold cultural services. The exhibitions, events and other activities arranged by them are attended by nearly one million people annually. There are over
10,000 volunteers working for their local cultural heritage. The local museums offer a learning environment, provide employment and services, are tourist destinations, provide expert knowledge and offer opportunities for both participation and volunteering.

The local museums maintain locally and nationally important collections and buildings, disseminate infor-mation about local history and present-day life and offer cultural experiences. Their collections contain a total of over 2.4 million objects: artefacts,
photographs and archival materials. They keep up over 3000 buildings, the majority of which date from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The resources for maintaining and preserving the collections and the building heritage are often minimal. The public
funding annually allocated to them averages under one euro per inhabitant. What the local museums need in particular is support, tools and competence resources for the maintenance of collections and support and planned schedules for the repair of buildings.

The committee stresses that local museums do wide-ranging work for cultural heritage and promote awareness of cultural heritage and environments and their importance for society. The value of local museums as a local and regional resource should be seen against a wider backdrop. The committee points out that local museum operations should not be evaluated by the same criteria as professional museums. What it is about in most cases is a hobby and volunteer work inspired by people’s own interest and desire to work for the local cultural heritage.

In its report, the committee proposes a number of ways of supporting and developing local museums activities. The proposals focus on measures for developing training, advice and steering, arranging collection management, exploring forms of regional
cooperation, improving the upkeep and safety of museums buildings, and supporting planned museums management.

http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Julkaisut/2012/Rakkaudesta_kulttuuriperintoon.html?lang=en