Ecomuseum
An ecomuseum is a museum focused on the identity of a place, largely based on local participation and aiming to enhance the welfare and development of local communities. Ecomuseums originated in France, the concept being developed by Georges Henri Rivière and Hugues de Varine, who coined the term ‘ecomusée’ in 1971. The term "éco" is a shortened form for "écologie", but it refers especially to a new idea of holistic interpretation of cultural heritage, in opposition to the focus on specific items and objects, performed by traditional museums.
There are presently about 300 operating ecomuseums in the world; about 200 are in Europe, mainly in France, Italy, Spain, and Poland.
Development
Introduced by the French museologist Hugues de Varine in 1971, the word ecomuseum has often been misused and the definition of an ecomuseum is still a controversial matter for contemporary museology. Many museologists sought to define the distinctive features of ecomuseums, listing their characteristics.
Ecomuseum Zoo
The Ecomuseum Zoo (French: Zoo Ecomuseum) is a Canadian zoological park in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec and was founded in 1988. It is accredited by the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA). It occupies 11.3 hectares (28 acres) of land on the western tip of the Island of Montreal.
The Ecomuseum is home to 115 different species of animal native to the Saint Lawrence Valley in southwestern Quebec. The Ecomuseum is operated by the Saint-Lawrence Valley Natural History Society and opened in 1988.
History
Dr. John Roger Bider founded the St. Lawrence Valley Natural History Society in 1981 to help educate children about the environment. In 1988, the society opened the Ecomuseum on 11.3 hectares (28 acres) of land that had originally been wetland, but had then been used in the 1960s as landfill.
The first education programs on the site were offered in 1989. The first building on the site, for administration and education, was opened in 1992. Ecomuseum opened in the winter for the first time in 1996.
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