Working for young people: transmitting culture through educational pathways – Helsinki / Espoo

The Culture for Cities and Regions project is organising a three-day study visit to Helsinki and Espoo (14-16 March 2016) to explore how culture contributes to different education pathways and feeds into educational, cultural and social objectives. The study visit will aim to facilitate peer-learning between 20 representatives of cities and regions coming from all over Europe.

This follows up on our previous study visits to:
– Nantes and its creative cluster at the heart of the city;
– Creative Wallonia and its holistic programme to rejuvenate the region through the creative economy;
– Nord-Pas de Calais on the regeneration dynamics around the Louvre-Lens.
– Bologna – IncrediBOL! a bottom-up initiative supporting creative businesses
– Dundee – a medium-sized city with a highly ambitious agenda for culture and creative industries
– Birmingham on involving residents and communities for inclusive cultural policies.
– North Portugal on creative hubs business models and regional hot spots of creativity

Reports from those previous study visits are available here :

Helsinki boasts several cultural assets, such as a collection of museums and a vibrant musical scene. Its architecture is also of touristic interest, while a unique Design District has made a name for itself around the world. Espoo is the second largest city in Finland and is situated in the same metropolitan area as Helsinki. Some of the most recognised centres and companies related to the knowledge economy are located in Espoo such as Aalto University, Nokia, the video game developers Remedy and Rovio, as well as the Espoo Museum of Modern Art. Both cities have developed a series of projects under the wide umbrella of “Culture and Children/Youth” oriented towards objectives such as Kulps, Kultus and Operation Pulse.

A delegation of 10 European cities or regions will exchange on Helsinki and Espoo’s experience on creative education. Participants come from Barcelona (Spain), Brighton and Hove (UK), Cambridgeshire (UK), Dublin (Ireland), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Lublin (Poland), Leipzig (Germany), Leeds (UK), Nottingham (UK) and Scandicci (Italy). These high-level civil servants and policy-makers dealing with Culture, creativity and educational programme have been selected after a call for expression of interest.

They will be accompanied by Arthur Le Gall (KEA project manager) and Nils Scheffler (Urban Expert) who will share their hands-on experience on policies for culture, creativity and urban development. The programme deals with themes such as:
– Connecting cultural services and schools for ‘lateral learning’ – learning a range of subjects through art-based practices.
– Community building and social innovation in neighbourhoods – culture and creativity as a way to facilitate citizen initiatives, including young people.
– Social inclusion and equal opportunities through arts and sports activities.
– Innovative uses of public cultural organisations, such as museums and libraries – acting as catalysts and enablers of projects for their districts.

Espoo and Finland report here: https://culturalheritageinaction.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/2016031.pdf