The Culture Bank expands from Pirkanmaa to fourteen regions

Originally developed by the City of Tampere’s Culture Service Group, the Pirkanmaa Culture Bank is expanding to fourteen regions. The new, nearly nationwide Culture Bank will be published with Swedish and English language versions. Professional artists and cultural practitioners can register on the platform, create a profile page, and link their bookable services to it.

For creators, Culture Bank increases job opportunities and national visibility, while also promoting equality among different artists and art forms. For clients, the platform enables the discovery of creators and their services across a wider geographical area. The expansion will foster a national network between regions, raising awareness, appreciation, and the perceived value of cultural and artistic services by making them more visible. Additionally, the platform enhances collaboration between municipal cultural services, regional councils, new wellbeing services counties, and employment and economic development services. It also supports municipalities in fulfilling their legal obligation to promote the conditions for professional artistic work and activity.

In addition to Pirkanmaa, Culture Bank will expand to the following regions: Åland, South Karelia, South Ostrobothnia, South Savo, Kanta-Häme, Kymenlaakso, Ostrobothnia, North Karelia, North Ostrobothnia, North Savo, Päijät-Häme, Satakunta, Uusimaa, and Southwest Finland.

The costs of the Culture Bank platform will be jointly covered by municipalities and regions. The service is free of charge for both creators and clients. The platform is expected to host around 6,000 creator profiles, 4,000 bookable services, and 1,000 registered clients.

The expansion project is coordinated by the City of Tampere. Starting in May 2025, the technical delivery will be handled by Red & Blue Ltd. Funding for the platform’s expansion has been granted by the Ministry of Education and Culture and comes from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which is part of the Next Generation EU recovery instrument.