Museums and cultural heritageMusée d’Orsay on taidemuseo Pariisissa Ranskassa.

In central government, it is the Ministry of Education and Culture's task to oversee cultural heritage policy and legislation. The Ministry provides direction to the museum sector through funding and performance guidance. The support helps the museum sector plan its work with a long-term approach.

The central government and the municipalities each fund around 40 per cent of the total museum expenditure in Finland. The remaining amount comes from the museums' self-generating revenue and other sources of income. In addition to making the statutory central government transfers, the Ministry of Education and Culture awards discretionary government grants to museums.

These government grants are made up of general grants to cover operational expenditure and special grants to fund projects. Besides the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish Heritage Agency also awards sector-specific grants to museums.

Museums in Finland

Finland has 152 professionally managed museums, which are responsible for over 320 museum sites. There are also nearly a thousand local museums, largely run by volunteers.

Finland's national museums are the National Museum, the Finnish National Gallery, and the Natural History Museum.

Finland has 32 museums with regional responsibility for providing cultural heritage expertise and partnerships in their region. Each museum promotes one of three areas: museum activities (22 museums), the cultural environment (22 museums) or the arts (17 museums). There are also 17 museums with national responsibility to provide nationwide expertise in their respective fields.

Museum and cultural heritage in the Ministry of Education and Culture

The Ministry's Department for Culture and Art Policy oversees museum and cultural heritage affairs. University museum operations fall within the university steering and funding system, which is overseen by the Department for Higher Education and Science Policy.

Operating under the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish Heritage Agency serves as a national expert, developer and authority on matters related to museums, cultural heritage and cultural environment.

Museum and cultural heritage actors

The Finnish Heritage Agency is responsible for development of the museum sector and serves in an administrative capacity on matters related to cultural heritage and cultural environment. The National Museum of Finland operates as part of the Finnish Heritage Agency. 
The Finnish Museums Association trains and develops the Finnish museum sector. 
The Finnish Local Heritage Federation promotes local heritage work.  
The Association of Cultural Heritage Education in Finland promotes education in cultural heritage and cultural environment. 
The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) is an expert and service agency for promoting the arts. 
The Finnish Antiquarian Society is a scholarly society for the purpose of promoting research on Finland and other Finno-Ugrian peoples and regions.  
The Finnish Cultural Heritage Foundation works to preserve Finnish cultural heritage. 
Finnish National Committee of ICOM (ICOM Finland)   
The Nordic Association of Conservators - Finland represents the field of conservation in Finland. 
The Finnish Association for Museum Education Pedaali promotes the profession of museum education.

Contact information

Mirva Mattila, kulttuuriasiainneuvos 
Ministry of Education and Culture, Kulttuuri- ja taidepolitiikan osasto (KUPO), Taiteen ja kulttuuriperinnön vastuualue (TAKU) Telephone:0295330269   Email Address:


Eeva Teräsvirta, kulttuuriasiainneuvos 
Ministry of Education and Culture, Kulttuuri- ja taidepolitiikan osasto (KUPO), Taiteen ja kulttuuriperinnön vastuualue (TAKU) Telephone:0295330082   Email Address: