Young V&A Wins 2026 Council of Europe Museum Prize
Summary
The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly awarded the 2026 Museum Prize to London's Young V&A, a children's branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The prize, presented in Strasbourg during the Assembly's spring plenary session, recognizes institutions that bridge cultures and promote democratic values. Winners receive a Joan Miró statuette and diploma.
What changed
The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly awarded its annual Museum Prize to London's Young V&A for 2026. The museum, aimed at children, young people, and families, was praised for providing experiences that help children embrace the future with confidence and creativity. The award recognizes institutions that bridge cultures and promote democratic values.
This award is ceremonial and creates no compliance obligations for any regulated entities. It has no implications for financial services, healthcare providers, or any other regulated sector. Compliance officers can note this as an informational item regarding cultural institutions recognized by an international body.
Scheduled event
- Date
- 2026-04-20
- Location
- Strasbourg
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Apr 21, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
London’s Young V&A receives the 2026 Council of Europe Museum prize
The “most joyful museum in the world” honoured at ceremony in Strasbourg
The Young V&A’s award follows on from recent wins by institutions in Bilbao and Białystok | © David Parry courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
The Young V&A **** in the United Kingdom has been hailed as offering children “a message of hope for the future” when being awarded the 2026 Council of Europe Museum prize. The ceremony was held in Strasbourg in front of parliamentarians from across the continent.
The prize, awarded annually since 1977 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, honours museums that bridge cultures, promote democratic values or broaden visitors’ understanding in fresh ways. The ceremony took place on the opening day of Parliamentary Assembly’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.
An outstanding museum in terms of mission
“Children told us they wanted us to create ‘the most joyful museum in the world’,” said Young V&A Director 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, Parliamentary Assembly President Petra Bayr said the Young V&A was “clearly an outstanding museum in terms of its mission”. 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.
Winners receive the statuette La femme aux beaux seins by Spanish painter and sculptor Joan Miró and a diploma.
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 (2023).
Video: Learn more about the Museum prize
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