An interview with our client Lahti Museums, the Museum of the Year 2025

Lahti Museums has been awarded the Museum of the Year 2025 recognition. In an interview, Kaisa Ahvonen, Communications Specialist for Lahti Museums, discusses the background of their success and the importance of digital services in the museum's operations.

The award jury justified their choice for the winner as follows:

“Lahti Museums has a long tradition of strong community engagement. Particularly exemplary is the way in which its mission to promote well-being has been successfully integrated into the museum’s operations. The museum takes responsibility for both the history and the future of the people of Lahti.”

The jury gave wonderful reasonings for the award. How are you feeling about the win?

We are honored and proud of this recognition from the Finnish Museums Association and ICOM Finland! At Lahti Museums, we have been persistently developing our museum services, clarifying the impact of our operations, and investing in integrating community and well-being into our museum work. We are delighted that our work is also being recognized at the national level.

What role do digital platforms and your own online services play in your operations?

Our museum websites and social media play an important role, both in communicating about our exhibitions and in showcasing the diverse nature of our museum work. Through the website, a visitor can get acquainted with our activities even before visiting the museum. WordPress Multisite is crucial for us, as it’s important that each individual museum, as well as the main Lahti Museums entity, has its own interlinked website.

How does the digital customer experience manifest in your museums’ daily life?

Through our followers, reactions, comments, and customer feedback. We receive valuable interaction with our audience through these digital platforms.

In what direction do you see digital trends for museums heading in the future? Will artificial intelligence bring new opportunities for your web development?

We certainly want to expand our digital services further in the future. For example, for the Lahti International Poster Triennial, we launched a digital online exhibition alongside the physical exhibition to make it accessible to the widest possible audience. The use of artificial intelligence is a key issue in the museum sector, and it’s something we are also considering in our own operations from as many perspectives as possible.

Explore Lahti Museums online at: www.lahdenmuseot.fi

Link to the news story: https://www.lahdenmuseot.fi/yleinen/lahden-museot-on-vuoden-museo-2025