New partnership agreement between the City of Helsinki and Uniarts Helsinki to strengthen vitality, the arts and culture
The City of Helsinki and the University of the Arts Helsinki (Uniarts Helsinki) have signed a new partnership agreement that will run until the end of 2029. The partnership will see the City of Helsinki and Uniarts Helsinki work together to strengthen Helsinki’s vitality, cultural offering and attractiveness and create a foundation for innovation and growth in the creative economy.
The City of Helsinki and Uniarts Helsinki want to strengthen the vitality, cultural offering and attractiveness of Helsinki. The new partnership agreement will lay the foundations for innovation and growth in the creative economy, renewing services, strengthening competence and building a vibrant and developing city.
The agreement is based on common objectives arising from the Helsinki City Strategy and the needs of Uniarts Helsinki. It will increase cooperation in research and education and produce researched knowledge to support the development of the city.
The resulting stronger cooperation will bring added value to Helsinki residents, students and operators and businesses in the creative, cultural and art sectors. It will strengthen the growth of the creative sector in line with the Helsinki City Strategy, enhance the role of the arts, culture and events as an essential source of vitality and support the implementation of the growth measures for the creative economy in Helsinki.
“Higher education institutions are of vital importance to the City of Helsinki. This new partnership agreement will further strengthen the cooperation between the City of Helsinki and Uniarts Helsinki. One of the priorities of the agreement is to strengthen the conditions for growth in the creative sector, which is very important to Helsinki,” says Mayor of Helsinki Daniel Sazonov.
“This partnership supports Uniarts Helsinki’s mission to strengthen the importance, status and vitality of the arts in Finnish society. With it, we will create a unique combination of art, research and education to support the creative renewal of Helsinki and build its international attractiveness,” says Rector of Uniarts Helsinki Kaarlo Hildén.
Cooperation to strengthen conditions for growth and employment in the creative sector
The first priority of the partnership is to strengthen employment, entrepreneurship and the growth ecosystem for the creative sector and arts and culture operators.
The City and Uniarts Helsinki aim to promote business incubation and the conditions for growth, strengthen the role of research collaboration as part of business development and develop the growth ecosystem as a whole in the creative sector. The partnership will support the creation of new innovations and improve the opportunities for operators in the sector to grow and internationalise.
“This partnership is a great way to strengthen Uniarts Helsinki’s business incubator activities and the development of arts-based entrepreneurship. It will better equip our students and alumni to build sustainable career paths in a changing arts landscape. At the same time, it allows us to strengthen the growth potential of the entire Finnish arts sector,” says Rector Hildén.
Promoting urban culture and events together
The second priority is to develop Helsinki’s urban culture, events, city image and neighbourhoods. To this end, the City of Helsinki and Uniarts Helsinki will work together – through arts and culture – to strengthen the pluralism of inclusion and the attractiveness of neighbourhoods and diversify the use of urban space. Attention will also be paid to using arts and culture to strengthen the identity and attractiveness of different areas of the city.
“The pleasantness and community cohesion of neighbourhoods are of paramount importance to us. That is why we intend to work closely with Uniarts Helsinki to develop a pleasant city, a vibrant urban culture and the identity and attractiveness of Helsinki’s neighbourhoods,” says Mayor Daniel Sazonov.
The agreement provides an enabling framework for cooperation, allowing joint development activities to be built in a flexible and effective way. The measures of the partnership are linked to the strategic growth and development programmes of both the City of Helsinki and Uniarts Helsinki.