You would be forgiven for having never heard of the European Museum Forum. You might not even realize that there is such an organization out there whose sole concern is about, well, museums. The European Museum Forum was founded by Kenneth Hudson in 1977. The Forum is under direct endorsement of the Council of Europe and a Board of Trustees is formed to oversee all activities the European Museum Forum conducts. Goranka Horjan, the Director of Museums of Hrvatsko Zagorje, Croatia, is the current Chair of the Board of Trustees. The Forum holds the annual European Museum of the Year Award every May.
The winner of the Award is chosen by a Panel of Judges. Consisting of all museum professionals coming from across Europe, the Panel talks over the current candidates, debates on which one to choose, and settles on agreed winners eventually. The National Correspondents make up a network of information that links each and every one of museum existing throughout Europe. Museums’ and museum-related activities as well as news of development are accommodated by the network, which are then spread across a wider audience by the European Museum Forum.
The European Museum Forum is a nonprofit organization that is registered in the United Kingdom. It is Europe’s number one organization that focuses on the development of the public quality of all museums found across the European continent. The Forum has been doing exactly that after more than 40 years have passed since its first inception. The existence of the European Museum of the Year Award goes to show that the Forum is attentive to possible changes that European museums may undergo and develops a method by which those museums can keep up with the modern times. As a result, it is expected that European museums can still serve its functions to their regional communities and European society in general.