The Egidio Feruglio Foundation (EFF), originally created to promote and support the activities of the MEF, is today one of the most active scientific-educational nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Patagonia Argentina.
The mission of the EFF is to “promote a management model aimed at educational and scientific institutions so they can produce, develop and facilitate access to knowledge.”
Thanks to the contribution of its members -citizens of Trelew-, the EFF has developed a series of programs (being the MEF, the most perfect model), which promote the dissemination and wide public access to scientific knowledge.
The EFF takes legal body in 1991 to support of the scientific community who wished to promote and protect the paleontological activity in the region.
One of its primary objectives was the creation of an enabling environment for the receipt of fossil material discovered, so that was not transferred to institutions outside the province. Thus, with an great vision for the future, the Government of Trelew and the EFF signed an agreement that regulated the operation of the MEF under the management and direction of the EFF, ratified by the City Council.
The EFF accompanied the early evolution of the MEF, facilitating their links with prestigious museum institutions from around the world.
The increased activity of the MEF prompted the Foundation to found the cherished dream of its own headquarters for the museum, and give the community the scientific center that really deserved.
In June 1999, thanks to the work and determination of those who helped (from government officials to businessmen and scientists), this goal was achieved with the opening of the building we know today.
Once opened the new building, the EFF initiated a self-evaluation project coordinated by the Fundación Compromiso. Critical analysis and setting out objectives resulted in 2000 with the definition of a new mission that extends the scope of its work beyond the borders of the museum.
Acting on behalf of redefining science with community and social spirit; conceived as a unique fact in which scientific production must match with dissemination of knowledge for public accessibility, this is the new focusing the EFF promotes, knowing that this is possible only if the scientific and museum institutions decide to take the commitment to impose a management model strongly directed towards the communities.