European Museum of the Year Award

The Museu Marítim de Barcelona and the Galata Museo del Mare at Genoa were included in the list of final nominees for the 2006 European Museum of the Year Award, organised by the European Museum Forum.

The Forum is responsible to the European Museum Trust, a charity registered in the United Kingdom , and operating under the auspices of the Council of Europe.

The Forum considers itself to be European in the most profound sense of the word, a focus of cultural understanding. Its opinions are expressed in plain terms, and its aim, each year, in selecting the European Museum of the Year, is to discover and publicise a museum that has succeeded outstandingly well in dealing with the problems that are facing museums everywhere, problems of imagination, money, staff morale, bureaucracy, integrity and professional pride, taste, social responsibility and planning for the future.

The members of the judging committee considered this year to be heavily featured by water museums. As well as the Galata Museo del Mare at Genoa and the Museu Marítim de Barcelona , there was the Idro: Ecomuseum of Waters at Bagno di Romagna in Italy, Eco Mare, Wadden and North Sea Centre on the island of Texel, in the Netherlands , Norveg, centre of coastal culture and coastal industries at Rørvik in Norway, Water World of St Petersburg in Russia and Times and Tide at Great Yarmouth in the United Kingdom.

Each of these museums has its own message relating to the subject of water. At the Galata Museo del Mare exploration achievements and the power of the sea is brought home to visitors, and a simulation of the rounding of Cape Horn uses modern media techniques to convey the struggle of man against the elements. Educational activities at the Museu Marítim de Barcelona include kits on 14 subjects for all school age groups, and active co-operation with a ferry company combining events with overnight trips. Both museums are housed in historic dockyard complexes and ensure that their maritime heritages will be preserved.

The Barcelona museum gained recognition for its dissemination activities, its sensitive response towards the public's needs and its exemplary tasks of collaboration with other museums and institutions.

One of the members of the Association of Maritime Museums of the Mediterranean , the Cau de la Costa Brava - El Museu de la Pesca ( Palamós , Spain ) was awarded with a special commendation in the year 2005.

This year's winner was CosmoCaixa, a private museum of science located in Barcelona , Spain .

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