I am really excited about developing museology at the University of Helsinki, and see in the discipline strong links with many of our other subject areas, particularly Cultural Heritage Studies. What I would like to see for this teaching, which is already an essential part of training for anyone at the university wishing to pursue a career in museums in Finland, is even closer integration with the museums sector. We already have terrific relationships with the Greater Helsinki museums community, and so I am sure that there is scope to consult even more closely in the future. It would be great to make sure that we are teaching the students what the museums (their possible future employers) would like them to know.

Further, if there is scope for research projects that fit the needs of the local, national and international museums and heritage sectors, as well as giving our students important experience, then I am all for research being applied. I suppose an even bigger dream, leading from this, would be to see Museology, perhaps in some sort of partnership with the Cultural Heritage Studies, move from being a minor subject in the university to being a whole degree programme in its own right. Never say never, right?