In Finland, young people’s engagement with art, culture and creativity is promoted by the Ministry of Education and Culture, national agencies, as well as youth organisations and regional-level actors (see YouthWiki/Finland 8.2 Administration and Governance). Evaluation and statistics of young people’s engagement in cultural activities are provided, for example, by the Children and Youth Leisure Survey. The latest survey showed that 74 per cent of young people engage independently in cultural and arts activities and 37 per cent engage in guided activities (see YouthWiki/Finland 8.1 General context). 

The main top-level steering documents that promote creativity and culture among young people are the 2025 Cultural Policy Report and the Implementation Plan for the Cultural Policy Report (see YouthWiki/Finland 8.3 National strategy on creativity and culture for young people). At the regional level, young people’s engagement with culture, creativity and arts is promoted through the work of cultural centres, education programmes, benefit systems and thematic weeks (see YouthWiki 8.4 Promoting culture and cultural participation). The most important publicly funded arenas offering young people exposure to culture and creativity are arts in school education, basic education in the arts (see Glossary) and cultural youth work. 

In 2026, the Ministry of Education and Culture announced that the government has proposed a reform of the legislation on basic education in the arts. The legislative process is currently ongoing (see YouthWiki/Finland 8.10 Current debates and reforms).