Creativity, culture and business in Northern Finland – the Legacy of Oulu2026

Looking beyond the capital of culture year

Oulu is the European Capital of Culture for 2026. The title has brought increased visibility and new opportunities for cultural and creative actors in the region. As the year progresses, however, attention is increasingly turning towards the future: how can the momentum generated by Oulu2026 be leveraged to support the long-term development of the creative and cultural sectors in the area?

The Oulu2026 Legacy Work Forum brought together professionals from the cultural and creative industries to discuss both the opportunities and the challenges facing the sector in the future. For OBS, the discussions were particularly relevant in light of the ongoing Interreg Aurora project ACCENT – Arts, Culture and Creativity for Entrepreneurial Networking and Tourism, which aims to develop sustainable cultural and creative tourism initiatives in Northern Finland and Sweden.

Unlocking existing potential through collaboration

A key message that emerged from the discussions is that there is already a lot of skill and expertise within the creative industries, but also a lot of untapped potential. The ongoing research within the ACCENT project has made the same observation. The discussions suggest that the challenge is often not a lack of creativity, but rather the ability to transform creative ideas into viable products, services and business opportunities.

The conversations at the forum highlighted the importance of collaboration as a key success factor in the creative industries. Collaboration allows individuals to focus on their core strengths while benefiting from skills, knowledge and resources that they might not otherwise have access to. However, finding the right connections is not always easy, and actors from different sectors may struggle to find a common language. The forum panelists noted that facilitation structures, such as shared spaces and platforms, organizational support structures, or intermediary actors, may be needed to help creative and cultural actors find potential partnerships.

The forum highlighted the need for collaboration not only across sectors, but also across borders. International cooperation creates opportunities for shared learning and innovation while strengthening networks across countries. The forum’s keynote speaker, Kaisa Rönkkö, emphasized that there is particular potential in collaboration between the Nordic and Baltic countries and encouraged local actors to use the momentum of Oulu2026 as a catalyst for deeper Nordic-Baltic collaboration. The ACCENT project is driving the same agenda by supporting cross-border collaboration between actors in Finland and Sweden.

Legacy is created by people and communities

While international partnerships and cross-border collaboration were highlighted as important drivers of future growth, the forum also reminded that creativity is rooted in local communities. As Rönkkö mentioned, the most compelling stories often emerge from places, cultures and lived experiences. Arts, culture and creativity thrive when they are grounded in authentic human connections and a strong sense of place. This is also an important foundation of cultural tourism, which is at the heart of the ACCENT project.

Ultimately, the discussions at the Oulu2026 Legacy Work Forum highlighted that the future of the creative industries depends on collaboration at multiple levels: within the creative sector, across different industries, and across regional and national borders. While local actors provide a rich source of creativity, knowledge and ideas, networks and partnerships are needed to transform this potential into sustainable business ventures.

These discussions resonate strongly with the objectives of the ACCENT project, which seeks to foster collaboration between cultural and creative actors, entrepreneurs and tourism stakeholders across the Bothnian Bay region. By supporting collaboration and knowledge exchange across borders, ACCENT aims to contribute to the long-term development of creative and cultural industries in the region.

Authors

Matilda Moilanen, Research Assistant
Department of Marketing, Management and International Business
Oulu Business School, University of Oulu

The author works as a research assistant in the project Accent – Arts, Culture and Creativity for Entrepreneurial Networking and Tourism (ACCENT). Learn more about ACCENT on the project page here.