What we do
At National Museums Scotland, we care for collections of national and international importance, preserving them, interpreting them and making them accessible to as many people as possible. We work with museums and communities across Scotland and beyond, introducing our collections to a much wider audience than can physically visit our museums, through partnerships, research, touring exhibitions, community engagement, digital programmes and loans. In 2015-2016 we welcomed 2.4 million visitors to our four museum sites: the National Museum of Scotland, the National War Museum in Edinburgh, the National Museum of Flight in East Lothian and the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride. Our mission is to preserve, interpret and make accessible for all, the past and present of Scotland, other nations and cultures, and the natural world and our priorities are creating inspiring visitor experiences at our Museums and elsewhere, developing, preserving and increasing access to the National Collections, strengthening and sharing collections knowledge and research, reaching out to people across Scotland and the world, transforming our digital engagement, valuing, supporting and developing our people and empowering them to work together in new ways and finally growing and diversifying our income.