20/04/2026 Session
The ‘most joyful museum in the world’ receives the 2026 Council of Europe Museum Prize
The Young V&A in the United Kingdom was hailed as offering children “a message of hope for the future” as it was awarded the 2026 Council of Europe Museum Prize at a ceremony today in Strasbourg in front of parliamentarians from across Europe.
The prize, awarded annually since 1977 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), honours museums that bridge cultures, promote democratic values or broaden visitors’ understanding in fresh ways. The ceremony took place on the opening day of PACE’s spring plenary session.
The Young V&A – a branch of the United Kingdom’s national museum of applied arts the Victoria and Albert Museum – is aimed at children, young people and families. In July 2023 it reopened in East London after renovation, featuring three galleries tailored for different age groups.
“Children told us they wanted us to create ‘the most joyful museum in the world’,” said Young V&A Director Dr Helen Charman in her acceptance speech, noting that children’s voices, creativity and agency lay at the core of the project through a process of co-working. The award of the prize “champions the role of the children’s museum in an era of growing populism in which democracy is challenged at almost every turn”.
Presenting the award, PACE President Petra Bayr said the Young V&A was clearly an outstanding museum which “stands as an inspiring model of child-centred, research-informed and socially engaged museology”. By providing experiences that can help children and young people embrace the future with confidence and creativity, it carried “a strong message of hope for the future”, she added.
The prize forms part of the European Museum of the Year Awards. Recent winners include Euskararen Etxea, the House of Basque Language in Bilbao, Spain (2025), the Sybir Memorial Museum in Białystok, Poland (2024), and the Workers Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark (2023).
