Cultural Bank expands to Northern Ostrobothnia - service opens in autumn 2025
The Cultural Bank of Finland is a nationwide online service that brings together art and culture professionals and the services they provide. In the autumn of 2025, the service will also expand to Northern Ostrobothnia, and all art and culture actors in the region will be welcome to join in. The service originated in Pirkanmaa and has been widely praised throughout Finland. "The Pirkanmaa Cultural Bank has been admired and such a service has been actively requested for Northern Ostrobothnia as well. Now it is a pleasure to announce that this will happen just before the opening of the European Capital of Culture year," says Auli Suorsa, Senior Specialist at the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. In Northern Ostrobothnia, the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia and the City of Oulu are jointly responsible for the regional maintenance, communication and financing of the Cultural Bank. The Cultural Bank is an investment by organisations in Oulu 2026, the year of the Capital of Culture, and the development of the creative industries. The Cultural Bank increases the visibility and job opportunities of authors and provides an equal platform for different fields of art. Professional art and culture creators can register for the service. Each person can create their own profile and add on-demand services, such as workshops, presentations or trainings. The use of the service will be widely communicated during the autumn and information and training sessions will be organised in different contexts. The service is free of charge for art and culture creators who produce content for it. Subscribers – such as municipalities, schools, care units, companies, event producers and also private individuals – can easily find and order services that suit them through the Cultural Bank. At national level, the goal is to compile approximately 6,000 author profiles, 4,000 commissioned services and 1,000 registered subscribers into the service. A total of 14 counties from all over Finland are participating in the extension of the service. The Cultural Bank is not only an online service, it has already created a nationwide network of developers in the creative sector. It includes provincial federations and central cities. The service supports cooperation between municipalities, counties, welfare areas and vitality services in particular. At the same time, it strengthens the possibilities for smaller municipalities to fulfil their statutory role in supporting professional art activities. The expansion work of the Cultural Bank is coordinated by the City of Tampere. As of May 2025, Red & Blue Oy is responsible for the technical maintenance of the web service. Funding has been extended by the Ministry of Education and Culture and comes from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Additional information: Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia: Auli Suorsa, Specialist, Culture. Tel. +358 50 386 8443 / auli.suorsa@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi…
