Sustainability
The Finnish Railway Museum’s responsibility programme addresses sustainable development challenges across the areas of ecological, economic, social, and cultural sustainability.
We were granted the Green Key certificate in June 2025, and its validity has been extended through the season 2026-2027.
Cultural sustainability
The Railway Museum’s mission is to research, preserve, and showcase cultural heritage of the railways. The museum conveys culture through its cultural path and by sharing content via the Finna service.
Social sustainability
The museum offers an engaging and safe community for volunteers. It organizes community-oriented events, including those held across Finland.
Economic sustainability
Through its choices, the museum supports local operators and provides internship and employment opportunities for students in the region.
Ecological sustainability
The Railway Museum prioritizes energy-efficient solutions. The museum encourages visitors to arrive using public transport.
Green Key certification
Green Key is an international sustainability programme for the tourism industry, with criteria based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As a Green Key-certified museum, we are committed to continuously improving our sustainability practices and reporting on them annually as part of the renewal application process. Compliance with the criteria is verified through regular on-site audits. The certification is awarded by an external, independent Green Key jury.
You can read more about the Green Key certification, the criteria, and other Green Key sites at greenkey.fi.
Sustainability actions and goals
Sustainability work is an ongoing effort towards a better future. Maintaining the certification requires work, but the Railway Museum has already been investing in sustainability for decades.
When applying for the certification, special attention was paid to upgrading museum lighting, water consumption, procurement, and waste management. In recent years, we have focused heavily on developing opportunities for volunteering and public participation. We have also strengthened our efforts regarding the cultural environment.
For the 2026–2027 season, our goals include developing training for museum volunteers, offering internship and work try-out opportunities, and creating and implementing a waste reduction plan. We aim to provide our volunteers with relevant and motivating training to enhance both workplace safety and job satisfaction. We are developing our operations to ensure the museum can annually offer several inspiring, well-supervised internships and work try-outs for students, career changers, and others in need of such opportunities. We will create a practical waste reduction plan that is easy to follow and leads to a genuine reduction in waste volume.
The main goals for the 2025–2026 season were to find a more environmentally friendly form of electricity generation, upgrade an even larger portion of the lighting to energy-efficient alternatives, install electric vehicle charging stations on the museum grounds, and implement a multi-compartment waste sorting system. These objectives were achieved, although lighting upgrades continue as old bulbs reach the end of their service life.