The Society for Cultural Policy Research in Finland invites researchers, cultural professionals and policymakers to the 13th Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research in Seinäjoki on 8–9 April 2027. The conference will be held at the Kalevan Navetta Art and Culture Centre in collaboration with the Seinäjoki Unit of the University of the Arts Helsinki.

The Call for Papers will open in mid-October – stay tuned for updates!

Photo by Andrei Stratu on Unsplash

The deadline of proposals has been extended to 15th of May 2026!

The Society for Cultural Policy Research annually awards a student whose master’s thesis addresses a cultural policy-related topic in a meritorious way. The prize can be awarded to a thesis that relates to the field of cultural policy and has been accepted at a Finnish higher education institute during 2025. The concept of cultural policy is understood broadly. The thesis may approach cultural policy, for example, in the framework of social sciences, political science, arts and cultural research, business economics, legal studies or artistic research. The thesis may be written in Finnish, Swedish or English.

The Society for Cultural Policy Research invites supervisors of cultural policy-related master’s theses completed in 2025 (at universities or universities of applied sciences) to propose nominees for the prize. Students can also nominate their own theses.

To nominate a thesis, please submit the thesis together with its evaluation statement as PDF file to kulttuuripolitiikan.t.seura@gmail.com by 15th May 2026. If the thesis is available online, it is sufficient to submit a link to it together with the evaluation statement as a PDF file.

The recipient of the prize will be selected by a jury. The awarded student will receive a honorary diploma and a grant of 300 euros. In addition, the awardee will have the opportunity to write an article to The Cultural Policy Research Yearbook based on the thesis or its central themes. The article will be reviewed according to the journal’s standard procedure.

We hope to receive many nominations!

The Keynote speaker of the first day of the Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research will be Sigga-Marja Magga. The title of Magga’s keynote is “History, society, and arts of the Sámi – The Giellagas Institute at the intersection of research and cultural policy”

Sigga-Marja Magga is the director of the Giellagas Institute at the University of Oulu, university lecturer in Sámi culture and docent of duodji, or Sámi handicraft. In her research, Magga examines the changes and power relations of Sámi society that are structured through duodji, as well as the manifestations and meanings of gender and spirituality. She is actively involved in various projects that aim to develop and strengthen the Sámi’s societal and cultural inclusion and influence.

Note: The keynote will be in Finnish. Simultaneous interpretation will be available upon request.

The theme of the Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research 2026 is “What will remain? The impacts of national, regional, and local cultural policy and projects”.The international speaker of the event is Professor Lluís Bonet from the University of Barcelona. He will deliver a keynote titled “Exogenous and Endogenous Factors Affecting the Social Impact of Cultural Projects.”

Bonet is Professor of Applied Economics and Director of the Cultural Management Program at the University of Barcelona. His extensive expertise is strongly connected to cultural economics, cultural management, and cultural policy. Awarded with numerous academic recognitions, Bonet has been a visiting researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Montpellier and the Kunnskapsverket National Center for Research on Cultural Industries in Norway. He has held leadership roles in various academic networks and organizations and participated in a large number of international research and collaboration projects.

The Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research will take place on April 9–10, 2026, in Oulu. More information about the program will be published soon. Stay tuned! 

The Society for Cultural Policy Research invites researchers, cultural actors, and decision-makers to the XII Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research, to be held in Oulu on April 9–10, 2026. The theme of the 2026 conference is “What will remain?”. The Conference provides a unique forum for discussing the impacts of current political decisions, programmes, and projects on the achievement of national cultural policy objectives , artistic work, cultural participation and the regional and local arts and culture ecosystems–both now and in the future.

Culture and the arts are built not only on moments, but also on continuity, commitment, and community structures. Cultural policy requires perseverance, but its manifestations, such as projects, programmes, and funding instruments, are often tied to current priorities, budgets, and political changes. What will remain of cultural policy actions when government terms change, funding periods end, projects come to a close, and the public visibility of current themes diminishes? During the current government term, there has been a lot of discussion about cuts to government appropriations and cultural budgets at both national and local levels. What will remain if the planned cuts in public funding for culture are implemented? What will happen to cultural sector actors and their operating environments?

Welcome to submit your proposal

We welcome proposals for both individual presentations and working groups. Proposals may be theoretical or empirical, but they should highlight both research and practical perspectives. Send your proposal by email to kulttuuripolitiikan.t.seura@gmail.com. The deadline for proposals is December 15, 2025. Instructions for submitting proposals can be found below.

Presentations and working groups can address, for example, the following topics:

• Monitoring, evaluation and measuring of projects and policies
• Impacts of cultural policy instruments (e.g. programmes, grants and subsidies, tax incentives, cooperation models, infrastructure investments)
• Effects of political decisions (e.g. funding cuts) and structural reforms (e.g., The Education and Culture Administration 2030 reform project)
• Impacts and starting points of political decision, reforms, and projects in different types of areas (e.g. urban vs rural, peripheries vs centres, suburbs vs city centres)
• Sustainability goals and impacts in cultural policy, funding, projects, and the daily operations of arts and culture sector actors
• Long-term impacts of projects and programmes on community, participation, and equality
• Realities and futures constructed by policy discourses and their broader implications
• Opportunities, challenges, and impacts of alternative funding models (e.g. sustained support from the private/business sector)

Presentations and working groups that examine the theme from perspectives other than those mentioned above are also welcome.

Session Proposals  

The length of the session proposal should be 250-300 words and must include the workshop title, topic, chair(s), as well as the proposed presenters and their topics. The language of the sessions can be Finnish, Swedish, or English. Sessions (each accommodating 3-4 presentations) can be proposed even if the presenter does not yet know all the presentations coming to the group. 

Presentation Proposals  

The length of an individual presentation proposal should be 250-300 words and must include the presentation title, topic, and the contact information of the presenter. The language of the presentations can be Finnish, Swedish, or English. 

All presenters are encouraged to shape their presentations into articles and submit their manuscripts for publication in the Yearbook of Cultural Policy Research (Kulttuuripolitiikan tutkimuksen vuosikirja). 

The XII Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research is organised by the Society for Cultural Policy Research in Finland in collaboration with the University of Jyväskylä, the Oulu Culture Foundation, and the City of Oulu.

The annual meeting of the Society for Cultural Policy Research in Finland was held on 3.4.2025. The meeting elected a new board for the society. The composition remained the same as in the previous term, but the roles changed. The society got a new board chair, and Sanna Karimäki-Nuutinen took over as Chair of the Board. Sanna Karimäki-Nuutinen, who lives in Seinäjoki, is finishing her PhD in cultural policy at the University of Jyväskylä. She is also active in contemporary art exhibition projects as a curator.

The Society for Cultural Policy Research in Finland warmly thanks Minna Ruusuvirta, a special researcher at Cupore who chaired the Board from 2022-2025 and will continue as secretary of the new Board. The other members of the Board are Mervi Luonila (vice-chair), Taina Laitinen, Helena Laukkoski, Aino Leppänen, Anna Kanerva, Jenni Pekkarinen and Sauli Okker.

The photo shows the outgoing and the new chair at the Cultural Policy Research Days, which took place on 24-25 April 2025 at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu.

The Society for Cultural Policy Research annually awards a student who has dealt with topics related to cultural policy research in a meritorious way in their master’s thesis. The prize can be given to any thesis which is related to the field of cultural policy and has been accepted in any of the Finnish higher education institutes of Finland during year 2024. The concept of cultural policy is widely understood: the thesis can deal with cultural policy, for example, in the framework of social sciences, political sciences, art and cultural research, business economics, legal sciences or artistic researh. The thesis can be written in Finnish, Swedish or English. 

The Society for Cultural Policy Research invites everyone who have supervised cultural policy related master’s theses (in universities or universities of applied sciences) to propose nominees for the prize. Also, any student who has written their thesis in 2024 can propose their own thesis. 

You can nominate a thesis by sending the thesis and its evaluation statement as PDF to kulttuuripolitiikan.t.seura@gmail.com on 30^th April 2025 at the latest. If the thesis is available online, it is enough to send only the evaluation statement and a link to the thesis. 

A jury will decide, which thesis will receive the prize. The receiver of the prize will be given a honorary diploma and 300 euro grant. The receiver of the prize has also a possibility to write an article to The Cultural Policy Research Yearbook, based on the thesis or its themes. The article will be reviewed according to the normal procedure. 

We wish to receive many proposals! 

Propose a presentation for the Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research.

Deadline for submissions extended until January 13th 2025!

The XI Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research will be held in Joensuu in the University of Eastern Finland on 24-25 April 2025. The theme of the conference in 2025 is The Work and Economy of Culture.

We invite proposals for sessions and presentations that address the diverse connections between culture, working life, economy, and politics.

Proposals for presentations and workshops should be submitted by January 13, 2025, to: kulttuuripolitiikan.t.seura@gmail.com.

The length of the session proposal should be 250-300 words and must include the workshop title, topic, chair(s), as well as the proposed presenters and their topics. The language of the sessions can be Finnish, Swedish, or English. Sessions (each accommodating 3-4 presentations) can be proposed even if the presenter does not yet know all the presentations coming to the group.

The length of an individual presentation proposal should be 250-300 words and must include the presentation title, topic, and the contact information of the presenter.

The language of the presentations can be Finnish, Swedish, or English.

All presenters are encouraged to shape their presentations into articles and submit their manuscripts for publication in the Yearbook of Cultural Policy Research (Kulttuuripolitiikan tutkimuksen vuosikirja).

The Finnish Conference on Cultural Policy Research offer an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary meeting place for those interested in the phenomena of cultural policy. The 2025 conference is organized by the Society for Cultural Policy Research in collaboration with the University of Eastern Finland.

For more information, visit: https://kulttuuripolitiikantutkimus.fi/en/finnish-conference-on-cultural-policy-research/