The Children in Museums Award
Winner Announced: Children in Museums Award 2021
Dutch Open Air Museum, Arnhem, The Netherlands
At a virtual ceremony which took place on the evening of Friday 12 November at the 13th Hands On! Conference hosted by the FRida & FreD Children’s Museum in Graz and the ZOOM Children’s Museum in Vienna, the results of the 2021 Children in Museums Award were announced. 34 museums took part in the competition from 16 countries, with a shortlist of 12 finalists.
The judges said: ‘The Dutch Open Air Museum’s Restart programme was devised in wide consultation with immigrants and teachers and offers authentic learning material illustrating migrants’ lives in our society. They praised the very imaginative use of the museum’s open-air space and buildings by treating it as an entire country. Children are encouraged to think for themselves, facilitators challenging responses and encouraging them to develop empathy with the situation of migrants.’
Shortlisted Museums Children in Museums Award 2021
Our judges not only value creativity and innovation, but also consider the ways in which an exhibition or programme can change the course of museum thinking or museum practice.
Shortlist
Museum of Technology, Helsinki, Finland
EPIC – The Irish Emigration Museum, Dublin, Ireland
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
NEMO Science Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Tropenmuseum Junior, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Netherlands Open Air Museum, Arnhem, The Netherlands
Naturalis, Leiden, The Netherlands
Wereldmuseum Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Museon, The Hague, The Netherlands
National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
Nordiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
People’s History Museum, Manchester, United Kingdom
Criteria
The judges will be looking for what is understood as ‘public quality’. In this specific case, the museum’s commitment to improving children’s experiences, growth, learning, well-being through the museum environment, atmosphere and programming.
Applications will be assessed against these criteria:
1. INNOVATION
E.g. Showing new pathways to enlarge subject matters, new ideas for using collections in children’s programmes/, new ways of using technologies to interact with the content, new forms of actively engaging young visitors, etc.
2. QUALITY OF LEARNING
E.g. Creating an overall environment and atmosphere which are conducive to learning, using interactivity to favour understanding, involving children in the conception and design, testing and evaluation of programmes and exhibitions, etc.
3. INCLUSION AND SOCIAL IMPACT
E.g. Showing evidence of programmes or initiatives that have a social impact and focus on inclusion and diversity, outreach activities, etc.
4. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
E.g. Having an informative website, learning printed and/or digital materials for schools, teachers, parents, etc.
5. STAFF
E.g. Showing good management and well-trained and experienced staff.
Prize
The winner of our travelling Miffy trophy and a 5000€ cash prize sponsored by Mercis B.V. will be announced in the course of a festive ceremony as part of the 13th Hands On! Conference & 21st Century Children training sessions in November 2021. Nominees will be named honorary ambassadors of the 21st Century Children Project co-funded by the European Union, as they represent best practice examples of future-oriented museum spaces for children.
