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1. Developing entrepreneurial skills through cultural activities

2. Support young entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sectors

Developing entrepreneurial skills through cultural activities

General upper secondary education

The national curriculum for upper secondary education includes two mandatory courses in visual arts. Students can also acquire a high school diploma in visual arts. The online version of the National core curriculum for general upper secondary education 2025 (p. 168) offers more information about arts education at the general upper secondary level.

Higher education

At the higher education level, various educational institutions receive public funding to support the development of cultural entrepreneurship.

•   Creative Entrepreneur – Joint Entrepreneurship Studies for Higher Education in the Arts, Culture, and Creative Industries Project: This collaborative project between the Open Campus at Uniarts Helsinki (coordinator), the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland, the Cultural Management Programme at Humak University of Applied Sciences, the LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts, and the Hanken School of Economics aims to strengthen the entrepreneurship skills of students in creative fields. The project aims to realise this goal by offering a selection of cross-institutional studies for university students. The project receives funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture. The total budget of the project is €650,000. 
• Radical Creativity: Aalto University has a centre for radical creativity that provides research, education, and other activities that promote radical creativity.

Non-formal education
 

Yritys Hyvä

Non-formal mechanisms promoting cultural entrepreneurship include the Development Centre Opinkirjo’s annual contest for entrepreneurship (Yritys Hyvä). In 2024, 654 children and young people participated in the competition. The competition also gained visibility through social media, reaching over 700,000 impressions through its advertising campaigns (2025 Annual Report of the Development Centre Opinkirjo, in Finnish). The exhibition of the best works took place at the Finnish Design Museum from 2 October 2024 to 1 March 2025.

Taking part in the competition involves describing one’s own entrepreneurial idea through writing, videotaping, drawing, songwriting, or another format. One criterion considered in the evaluation is whether the idea brings added value related to culture and cultural life. Over the years, music, music videos, musicals, movie productions, and other forms of art have been created as part of the contest. The competition is divided into separate age groups: pre-primary education, basic education, upper secondary education (general and vocational), and trainee teachers. The contest supports competence areas included in the curricula of schools and educational institutions, such as cultural competence, interaction and self-expression, ICT competence, working life competence, and entrepreneurship, as well as participation, involvement, and the building of a sustainable future.

For more information on developing young people’s entrepreneurial skills, see YouthWiki/Finland 3.8 Development of Entrepreneurship Competence. It should be noted that the competition was held for the last time in 2025.

Support young entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative sectors

CreaDive

The CreaDive project (1.4.2023–31.3.2026) offered coaching and educational materials, such as the CreaDive Compass, for emerging entrepreneurs in the creative sector in Southwest Finland. In addition, the project produced a collection of articles (in Finnish) providing information about the project’s results, as well as models and good practices aimed at supporting professionals in the creative field. 
The project was coordinated by the University of Applied Sciences Humak and received partial funding from the European Social Fund (ESF+). The project is currently awaiting a decision on possible funding for a follow-up project.

Modern Patrons Project 

The Artists’ Association of Finland’s Modern Patrons project (2025–2026) aims to bring visual arts organisations and companies together. In 2026, the participating companies supported the realisation and marketing of the art exhibition Young Artists 2026 (Nuoret 2026, in Finnish). Young Artists is an annual exhibition that has presented the works of visual artists under 35 since 1939 at Kunsthalle Helsinki.