Tampere’s historic museums — Vapriikki, Museo Milavida, Amuri and the collections centre — earn Ekokompassi sustainability certificate

According to the City of Tampere, Tampere’s historic museums have formalised their sustainability work by earning the Ekokompassi environmental certificate after an audit.

The certification covers museum centre Vapriikki, Museo Milavida, the Amuri museum block and the collections centre responsible for historical museum holdings. Curator Tomi Kumpulainen, who leads the Ekokompassi work, said the museums built on a sustainability programme launched at Vapriikki in 2018, joined the Choose More Responsibly service in 2021 and began constructing the Ekokompassi system across sites in autumn 2025. The system, run by the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and based on international standards, helped staff identify ways to reduce material waste and energy use, increase recycling and prioritise sustainably produced local food.

Practical changes already implemented range from staff cargo bikes and replacing plastic shop bags with paper to recycling exhibition walls, switching to greener cleaning chemicals and cutting toilet water use. Vapriikki also established an urban meadow in late 2025 and monitors local species in cooperation with the natural history museum’s research — small steps with tangible results.

Kumpulainen said the certificate is not an endpoint but part of ongoing work. Next steps include reducing printed brochures and enhancing biodiversity around museum grounds. Visitors are encouraged to arrive by public transport or city bikes; Vapriikki’s café always offers vegetarian, local and organic options.