Culture Bank – The power of digital development to support culture and the arts

The implementation of the Culture Bank expansion project under enormous time pressure was nothing short of a miracle: during the year, we held national negotiations with all Finnish regions, drafted the contract with 20 contracting parties in both Finnish and Swedish, carried out a tender that exceeded the national threshold in cooperation with procurement experts and lawyers, and defined and developed the online service together with the technical supplier. Finally, we carried out a security audit to ensure that almost 100 security requirements for the web service were met as promised. 

Although the rush has been tremendous, the overriding feeling about the Culture Bank expansion project is gratitude. It is fantastic that the regions came on board and committed to a partnership that will deliver both savings and impact.

The Culture Bank was originally developed by the City of Tampere as a Pirkanmaa-wide collaboration. In 2021–2023, the Culture and Art Power project, funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture, was implemented with the aim of strengthening regional cultural development. During the project, the idea of an online service was born, which would bring together arts and culture professionals in one place, easily accessible and subscribed to. The result was the Pirkanmaa Culture Bank, which was launched in 2022.

In autumn 2023, Tampere and Espoo explored the possibility of expanding it to cover several regions. The message was clear: the need and the will were there. This led to nine provinces applying for funding, and the Ministry of Education and Culture granted support from the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

For artists and cultural creators in Pirkanmaa, the expansion meant reaching a wider customer base, doubling their visibility in terms of visitor numbers to the Culture Bank, opportunities to network with other creators and clients, and international events through different language versions. During 2025, the use of the Culture Bank remained stable at the beginning of the year, but a significant change occurred in the autumn. In October 2025, the Culture Bank was launched and between the end of October and November, the number of sessions almost tripled and page views more than doubled. New regions also appeared on the Culture Bank's visitor list, with Stockholm as one example.

Culture and arts professionals can register with the Culture Bank from the following counties: Pirkanmaa, Åland, South Karelia, South Ostrobothnia, South Savo, Kanta-Häme, Kymenlaakso, Ostrobothnia, North Karelia, North Ostrobothnia, Päijät-Häme, Satakunta, Uusimaa and Southwest Finland. North Savo is involved in the cooperation and will inform separately about the opening of the Culture Bank in the region.

The impact of the Culture Bank will grow with the authors and subscribers

A lot has been learned along the way. It has been important to listen to both creators and subscribers – what they need, how they use the service, and how we can make it as effective as possible. The number of registered authors is steadily increasing, and the number of contacts made through the service is on the rise. There are already more than 150 subscriber profiles on the service.

The Culture Bank was presented in early November at the closing ceremony of the Ministry of Education and Culture's Structural Support for Culture and Creative Industries as an example of projects with a regional impact. It felt meaningful: this is not just an online service, but part of a wider cultural ecosystem that supports employment, accessibility and artistic diversity.

The importance and impact of the Culture Bank will grow as the service expands – moderators will highlight local factors, and real-time data will allow the service's development to be monitored. Future developments will be guided by the counties working together to ensure that the online service evolves by listening to feedback from creators and regions and continuing to build on the same need to increase the visibility of services for artists and cultural creators.

What were the lessons learned from the project?

Key lessons learned:

• Put more effort into contract refinement and data protection.
• Quality matters when tendering.
• A joint communication plan is essential.
• Proactively budget for procurement costs.