Oulu
Finland
Oulu, the biggest city in North Europe, will hold the title of European Capital of Culture 2026 together with 38 municipalities in Northern Finland.
Oulu is a perfect mix of northern nature, urban city culture and original local flavour. The residents of Oulu have always been known for choosing their own path and seeing opportunities where others see nothing: we’ve created a hub of high technology with mobile networks and 6G connections and now we want to achieve Cultural Climate Change Europe by reconnecting people and experts from different fields of society.
The City of Oulu is the capital of northern Finland. The Oulu Region has about 250,000 inhabitants and it is the fastest growing region in Finland.
ECOC
Oulu has been selected as the European Capital of Culture 2026, and we want to turn our challenges into superpowers.
But to create a long-term impact, we need to look beyond 2026 by changing our cultural climate. We see culture as builder that help us to reconnect, communicate and collaborate. Creativity, curiosity and ingenuity are the result when different ideas and people meet. Our movement will focus on this: creating transformative Cultural Climate Change starts with a culture program that is designed to reconnect people. By bringing together local and international audiences and experts we can create something new, exciting and lasting.
The Oulu Culture Foundation is responsible for the activities of Oulu2026.
The foundation develops Oulu as a city of culture and events and promotes the preconditions for artists and the cultural sector, and participates in activities that develop the cultural sector nationally and internationally. The foundation has a board that takes care of the foundation’s administration and operations properly to accomplish its purpose. The Board has nine members. The term of office of the members of the Board is two years. The term of the first Board will end at the end of the 2024 annual general meeting. The Board is advised and supported by the Advisory Board, which includes representatives of the City of Oulu’s trustees, all 32 municipalities participating in the Capital of Culture and the region’s main binding groups representation.
Who represents the city
He has studied visual communications and cultural production. In his previous career, he focused on the film industry and his music videos have been screened at numerous international film festivals. He also ran his own production company. Henri has been many years the chairman of the Oulu Live Music Association and organised hundreds of music events. Prior to this project, he has worked in the city of Oulu as a developer of cultural festivals in the region. In his free time, he plays in a couple of bands, which have released studio albums for esteemed indie labels.
Contact
Torikatu 18, 90100, Oulu
info@oulu2026.eu
www.oulu2026.eu
+358 44 703 1116
