Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Search in posts
Search in pages
The letters OULU in pink in front of Tuira, each decorated in honour of the summer and the year of the Capital of Culture.

news

22.03.2023

Sustainability in Culture - The Northern Ostrobothnia Cultural Forum seeks solutions to the ecological sustainability crisis

The sustainability requirement strongly permeates society as a whole, all its functions and stakeholders. Technical solutions alone are not enough for change. We need a new way of living, values and ways of thinking. We need a cultural sustainability breakthrough.

How can culture concretely respond to the ecological sustainability crisis? What role can culture play in the green transition, ecological reconstruction and strengthening democracy? How is culture part of the solution in Northern Ostrobothnia? These big questions will be discussed at the Cultural Forum on 23 March 2023 at Oulu Music Centre. The theme of the day is Sustainability from Culture to Northern Ostrobothnia.

A number of cultural stakeholders, artists and researchers have already taken up the challenge of the sustainability transformation. One of them is Pauliina Latvala-Harvilahti, docent of cultural heritage, who belongs to the research community of the House of Science and Hope in Helsinki and to the Suotrendi research group of the University of Eastern Finland. Together in cooperation in cooperation with the group, he explores the ways and trends of experiencing peatlands in the 21st century, their impact on peatland relations and, more broadly, the diverse cultural heritage of peatlands.

“Building the desired future starts in cooperation in cooperation with understanding the past. A dynamic museum is a good way to do this. It can also be used in the new museum to be built in Oulu,” says Leena Paaskoski, Senior Adjunct Professor, Development Director at the Finnish Forest Museum Lusto. He has developed the concept of a dynamic museum, which is currently being implemented in Luusto. It will enable museums to play an even stronger role in future-oriented work and in meeting the sustainability challenge.

In addition to Latvala-Harvilahti and Paaskoski, the Culture Forum will be attended by Anu-Maarit Moilanen, Managing Director of Oulu Theatre, and Jetta Huttunen, Executive Producer of the Culture Retailer. In the Forum's five workshops, the themes of the day are explored on a concrete level.

The Cultural Forum's programme and information on the workshops can be found at: from this link.

The Forum is co-organised by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Regional Assembly of Northern Ostrobothnia's Cultural Cell - Collaboration and Impact in Cultural Services project. The project implements the Ministry of Education and Culture's regional cultural development task.

Additional information:
Antti Huntus, Senior Specialist, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, tel. +358 295 330 810 antti.huntus@taike.fi)
Auli Suorsa, Senior Specialist, Regional Assembly of Oulu Region (tel. +358 50 386 8443) auli.suorsa@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi).

Keywords:

culture, cultural cell

Related articles

22.09.2026
The Cultural Bank of Northern Ostrobothnia's cultural and art makers

Oulu2026 has made art and culture a visible part of the everyday life of North Ostrobothnians. As the autumn progresses, the focus will also be on how to continue the activity and interest generated by the Year of Culture in the coming years. One way to continue working in the field of culture is the National Cultural Bank. It brings together art and culture professionals and their commissioned services in one place. – With the Oulu2026 year, the pulse of culture has increased in our region. The Cultural Bank of Finland is a good tool to maintain the heart rate in the future. The easy findability of cultural and artistic creators and ready-made services is an important part of this, says Samu Forsblom, Programme Director at the Oulu Cultural Foundation. From the Cultural Bank, an event organiser, a company, a municipality, a school, an association or a private person can find, for example, a performer for an event, a workshop for a school or a cultural programme for a staff day. The service offers music, performances, workshops, lectures, trainings and other art and culture content. Buying a cultural service must be easy The aim of the Cultural Bank is to lower the threshold for buying cultural and art services. The pre-described service will also help a subscriber who does not already have contacts with the creators of the field or an accurate understanding of what kind of cultural content could be acquired for his or her own event or activity. – The purchase of cultural services must be made as natural for companies, associations and municipalities as the purchase of other professional services, says Auli Suorsa, Culture Specialist at the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The Cultural Bank already has more than 900 creative professionals and more than 800 services from 14 counties. Nearly 60 operators are currently involved in North Ostrobothnia. The aim is to increase the region's offering so that more and more cultural and artistic professionals in the region can be easily found even after the year of the Capital of Culture. – The more comprehensively Northern Ostrobothnian factors are involved in the service, the easier it will be for the region's cultural know-how to turn into orders and work, Auli Suorsa points out. The use of the Cultural Bank is free of charge for both authors and subscribers. In Northern Ostrobothnia, the service is made possible by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia and the cultural services of the City of Oulu. Read more about the Cultural Bank on its own website and register as an author or subscriber: Kulttuuripankki.fi More information: Auli Suorsa, Senior Specialist, Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, tel. +358 50 386 8443 auli.suorsa@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi Leena Pälli, Senior Specialist, City of Oulu, tel. +358 44 703 7210 leena.palli@ouka.f

02.12.2025
Trainings from the Cultural Bank in December

Five remote training sessions will be organised on the Cultural Bank's online service during December. Two of the trainings are related to lyrics of one's own competence and three to productization. All training sessions also include the introduction training and discussion section of the Cultural Bank in addition to the theme speakers. The days are: Tue 9.12.2025 at 15-16.30 - Competence lyrics, trainer Carolina Pajula / TAMK Wed 10.12.2025 at 10-11.30 - Productisation, trainer Tuuli Penttinen-Lampisuo / Poike Productio Thu 11.12.2025 at 9-10.30 - Competence lyrics, trainer Carolina Pajula / TAMK Tue 16.12.2025 at 10-11.30 - Productisation, trainer Tuuli Penttinen-Lampisuo / Poike Productio Wed 17.12.2025 at 10-11.30 - Productisation, trainer Tuuli Penttinen-Lampisuo / Poike Productio Wed 17.12.2025 at 16.30-18 - Productisation, trainer Tuuli Penttinen-Lampisuo / Poike Productio The trainings are held in Finnish and each session can accommodate the 100 fastest. The aim of the trainings is to increase the competence of cultural and artistic stakeholders and the prerequisites for joining the Cultural Bank. The organisers are the Producer Centre Living Lab and the City of Tampere / Cultural Bank's expansion project. The registration form can be accessed via this link: The Cultural Bank of Finland has just opened a nationwide, unique online platform that brings together the creators of art and culture and their services. They can be easily found and ordered from the Cultural Bank. The service expanded from Pirkanmaa to nationwide this autumn. In Northern Ostrobothnia, the Culture Bank is provided by the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region and the City of Oulu's cultural and cultural services, which also provide additional information. The Cultural Bank can be consulted on its own website: Frontpage - Cultural Bank More information: Auli Suorsa, Culture Specialist, tel. +358 50 386 8443, auli.suorsa@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi  

06.06.2025
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 stakeholders 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 Assembly of Oulu Region. In Northern Ostrobothnia, the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region 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 regional The Regional Assemblys 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 Assembly of Oulu Region: Auli Suorsa, Cultural Affairs Specialist. Tel. +358 50 386 8443 / auli.suorsa@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi…

18.06.2024
Cultural Bank expands to Northern Ostrobothnia

A grant of EUR 300,000 has been granted for the further development and expansion of the Pirkanmaa Cultural Bank online service launched at the beginning of 2023 from the Ministry of Education and Culture's structural support for the renewal of the cultural and creative sectors. As a result of the grant, the service will be extended to eight other regions in addition to Pirkanmaa. Northern Ostrobothnia is also included. Practical work in the area is carried out in cooperation between the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region and the City of Oulu. Pirkanmaa Cultural Bank is a free online service maintained by the City of Tampere that brings together cultural and artistic creators and their on-demand services. The aim of the online service is to increase the employment, visibility and networking of artists, as well as the availability and diverse use of culture. At the moment, the service has 500 cultural and artistic authors and more than 400 on-demand cultural and art services. The user experience of the service has been positive. The Cultural Bank can be found at Kulttuuripankki.fi. "For a long time, Northern Ostrobothnia has been looking for an easy-to-use online platform from which different stakeholders can acquire cultural and artistic services for their own needs. The Cultural Bank responds to this desire," says Auli Suorsa, Culture Specialist at the Regional Assembly of Oulu Region. The grant was awarded to the City of Tampere. The project partners are the City of Espoo, which is responsible for the Uusimaa region in cooperation in cooperation in cooperation with the Regional Assembly of Helsinki, Vantaa and Uusimaa, the City of Turku and the Regional Assembly of Southwest Finland, the City of Lappeenranta and the Regional Assembly of South Karelia, the City of Kuopio and the Regional Assembly of North Savo, the Regional Assembly of Ostrobothnia, the Regional Assembly of North Karelia and the City of Joensuu, the City of Mikkeli and the Regional Assembly of South Savo, as well as the City of Oulu and the Regional Assembly of Northern Ostrobothnia. Further information: Kulttuuripankki.fi website City of Tampere website news about the expansion of the Cultural Bank. Regional Assembly of Oulu Region: Auli Suorsa, Culture Specialist, tel. +358 50 386 8443, auli.suorsa@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi City of Tampere: Anna Szalay, Development Manager, tel. +358 44 481 1774, anna.szalay@tampere.fi Photo by Leena Törmälä.