National responsibility museums

Mobilia is the national responsibility museum of road transport, designated by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

According to the Museums Act (314/2019, § 9), a museum with national responsibility shall:

1) CARRY OUT NATIONAL MUSEUM ACTIVITIES IN ITS FIELD OF EXPERTISE;
2) DEVELOP AND PROMOTE CULTURAL HERITAGE WORK AND COOPERATION BETWEEN MUSEUMS IN ITS FIELD OF EXPERTISE;
3) ACT AS A NATIONAL EXPERT ON CULTURAL HERITAGE IN ITS FIELD OF EXPERTISE;
4) MAINTAIN AND PROMOTE INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS IN ITS FIELD OF EXPERTISE;
5) PROMOTE THE RECORDING AND DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN ITS FIELD OF EXPERTISE.

For its national activities, Mobilia has drawn up a plan that has been approved by the Finnish Heritage Agency. According to the plan, in the coming years, Mobilia will:

• produce online content and exhibitions
• strengthen, together with its stakeholders, the evidential and authenticity-preserving aspects of historic vehicles. This will be done through cooperation with hobby magazines and by producing content for social media in addition to the hobby magazines.
• open the register of heritage vehicles to vehicles registered after 1939. Mobilia produces freely available resources on its website on the restoration and conservation of historic vehicles and organises annual workshops on conservation methods.
• advise the public on the Finnish Heritage Agency’s grants for the restoration of vehicles and monitor the use of the grants in accordance with the agency’s instructions
• participate in major public events to share expertise and the importance of cultural heritage
• develop communications in cooperation with the Trafiikki Museums
• through the Mobipaja project, develop products for maintenance, repair, and renovation services to meet customer needs. New services include products related to the assessment of the material condition and historical authenticity of historic vehicles.

• strengthen the steering influence of the Advisory Committee of Finnish Automobile Museums and organise training sessions aimed at a common collection policy among member museums
• clarify the division of labour for the preservation and presentation of the cultural heritage related to canals
• promote publishing activities and produce material for Finna and modular exhibition solutions for other museums

• raise awareness of the importance of the historical value of road transport objects, cultural heritage sites, and vehicles among the industry and public authorities. The source material of the heritage vehicle register will be made more accessible. Cooperation will be developed to map historically valuable horse-drawn vehicles and bicycles in Finland together with museums and enthusiasts.
• improve cooperation with stakeholders and communities to raise awareness of cultural heritage and inventory of collections. The preservation of the cultural heritage of road transport will be ensured in the event of changes, and cooperation with the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency and ELY Centres will be promoted.
• strengthen its role in road transport heritage issues, in particular towards regional responsibility museums. National services and expertise in the field of expert opinions and historical research will be developed.

• launch an international automobile museum partnership with selected European museums.
• take the initiative to organise a major international seminar on the history and cultural heritage of road transport for the NordBalt network
• learn about FIVA’s activities as a new member, network with other vehicle history museum members, and participate in international seminars

• transfer more material to Finna and use 3D imaged exhibits for websites and exhibitions

• together with the National Archives of Finland and recreational vehicle organisations, digitise the vehicle registers kept by the Finnish authorities that have been preserved in Finland
• carry out 1 to 2 current documentation projects