Croatian Natural History Museum Named Best Slavic Museum of 2025
The Croatian Natural History Museum has won the prestigious international Živa Award 2025 for Best Slavic Museum. The award was presented during a ceremony held on 10 October in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of the 11th edition of the Živa Award for the Best Slavic Museum and Heritage Site, organized by the Forum of Slavic Cultures (FSK).
This year’s event brought together more than 140 participants from ten Slavic countries and three additional nations. The programme included the international conference Echoes of Heritage and the Future of Museums and presentations by 32 nominated museums. Among more than 150 participating institutions, the Croatian Natural History Museum stood out as the overall winner.
The international jury, composed of 16 museum professionals from various Slavic countries and representatives of the European Museum Academy (EMA), selected the Croatian Natural History Museum as the Best Slavic Museum of 2025 for its:
“innovative approach to content creation, departure from traditional exhibition design practices, creative development of the museum narrative, and exceptionally welcoming attitude towards visitors.”
This international recognition confirms the vision, dedication, and hard work of the entire museum team in creating a contemporary, interactive, and inclusive institution that brings natural history closer to everyone—from young visitors and families to researchers and professionals.
“This is a great honour not only for our museum, but also for the Croatian museum community as a whole. I am proud of our entire team, whose expertise, commitment, and enthusiasm helped create a museum for the 21st century,” said Dr Tatjana Vlahović, Director of the Croatian Natural History Museum.
Joining the Director at the award ceremony were Deputy Director Dr Martina Šašić Kljajo, Dr Iva Mihoci, Martin Glavinić, Head of Public Relations, and Ksenija Starček, Head of the Museum Shop.
The Živa Award, named after the Slavic goddess of life, vitality, and fertility, was established in 2014 to promote excellence and highlight the social role of museums across the Slavic world. Today, it connects a network of nearly 250 museums and heritage sites from 13 Slavic countries.
For the Croatian Natural History Museum, which recently completed a major renovation and reopened in a modern, state-of-the-art setting, this award represents the culmination of years of dedicated work and a significant recognition of its growing international relevance.