Since their establishment, ecomuseums have represented a new take on the purpose of the museum and, if we can say so, a kind of opposition to the "traditional", cannonical concept of the museum. With their holistic and inclusive understanding of heritage, the aspiration for cooperation with the local community and the goal of sustainable development ecomuseums have become an indispensable item in the world of museologists and museology. Interest in ecomuseums soon began to grow and they began to be established outside the borders of their "home country" France. Today ecomuseums can be found in a number of countries, such as Italy, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Spain, etc. The list of countries that have founded one or more ecomuseums also includes Croatia. In this thesis we will show the history and development of the ecomuseum, the philosophy behind its foundation and what makes it special, that is, what makes it different from the "traditional" museum. Also, we will devote a protion of this thesis to specific examples of ecomuseum in Croatia, and analyze their mission and goals, in order to determine whether they really correspond to the contemporary definitions of the ecomuseum.