Creative Economy and Cultural Entrepreneurship in Rural Europe

Insights into the European Region of Culture designation in South

Ostrobothnia region in Finland

Timo Suutari

Antti Saartenoja

Kari Salo

Jussi Kareinen

1

2

Index

Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ 3

1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 4

1.1 Culture, creativity and regions ................................................................................................... 4

1.2 The role of the policies supporting creative economy and cultural entrepreneurship in rural

areas ................................................................................................................................................. 6

2. Background: South Ostrobothnia region.......................................................................................... 9

3. Insights into the European Region of Culture designation in South Ostrobothnia ........................ 10

3.1 Objectives and methodologies ................................................................................................. 10

3.2 Main findings ........................................................................................................................... 11

3.2.1 Cultural activities in South Ostrobothnia region .................................................................................... 11

3.2.2 Attitudes towards cultural entrepreneurship in South Ostrobothnia ....................................................... 18

3.2.3 South Ostrobothnia and European Region of Culture designation ......................................................... 25

4. Conclusion: rationale for the European Region of Culture designation ........................................ 35

References .......................................................................................................................................... 37

3

Abstract

This report has been produced as a part of the EROC (European Regions of Culture) project, which has been

funded by The European Union‟s Culture 2007 programme. The project has been implemented by three

regions across Europe: Cornwall in south-west England, Kujawsko-Pomorskie in Poland and South

Ostrobohnia in western Finland. The main aim of the project has been to develop new co-operation models

to advance cultural activities across rural Europe and to help establish a European Regions of Culture

designation for rural areas. The EROC project is based on the idea that cultural activities can be as vibrant,

active and unique in non-urban locations as in urban surroundings.

This paper presents the results and major findings of the investigation about European Region of Culture

designation in the South Ostrobothnia region in Finland. The report is divided into two separate yet

intertwined sections. In the first section conceptual and theoretical issues concerning culture, creative

industries and cultural entrepreneurship in rural areas are considered. The second section presents the main

results based on the questionnaire completed by cultural actors in the South Ostrobothnia region and

thematic interviews with the artists involved in the EROC pilot project.

There are three main themes in this report: cultural activities, attitudes towards cultural entrepreneurship and

the European Regions of Culture designation in rural regions. Results from the questionnaire and thematic

interviews are combined in order to create a deeper understanding about rural areas‟ characteristics in terms

of the development of cultural activities. The essential question in this report is, to what extent does the

development of cultural activities, and especially cultural entrepreneurship, differ in rural areas from that of

bigger cities. It seems that many issues are basically the same regardless of operational environment for

instance the suitability of various business development services for creative practitioners. Anyhow,

problems that originate from rurality can be described as a relatively thin set of culture sector clusters and

lack of adequate critical mass in cultural fields. Therefore, rural areas should be connected to regional,

national and international development measures and development networks. The European Regions of

Culture designation is one of these development networks for ameliorating cultural activities in rural Europe

and seems to be a very promising tool.

Based on the results derived from the project and one of the project regions, there is a demand in rural areas

for this kind of activity. Experiences and views stress regional distinctiveness based on local and regional

identity and collaboration among European regions. The collaboration seems to be the cornerstone of the

whole EROC concept. Yet, the biggest challenge for the future seems to be how to create real collaboration

between the parties and between the regions. If one lesson could be learnt from these experiences it would be

to actively communicate better not only within the core project group but between all the parties involved in

the implementation. The second, and at least as important thing, is the role of the target group: artists,

cultural workers, third sector actors etc. They should not be relegated to a minor role but be in the very focus

of the activities. The whole idea of the designation in regions is grounded on the creativity of local people

and the main objective is to support their practice.

4

1. Introduction

1.1 Culture, creativity and regions

The importance of culture and creativity as the engines of economic growth has been stressed across the

post-industrial world since creativeness as a prerequisite for technological, organisational and social

innovations is seen to form the key competitive advantage to organisations and regions in the global

economy. During the past 10–15 years, cultural activities have been connected more and more with the

regional development context, not least because of the publication “In from the margins - A contribution to

the debate on Culture and Development in Europe” in 1998. That publication emphasised the significance of

culture as a driving force for the development in Europe. Also the Lisbon Strategy stresses cultural diversity

as a vehicle for creativity and innovation.

The significance of culture and creativity as the core driving forces of regional and urban development is

widely recognised and theoretically broadly analysed. Economic geographers especially have paid attention

to the intertwinedness of economic and cultural processes. A widespread view is that non-economic factors

are crucial elements for regional growth. Development of regions is reviewed as multifaceted processes

based on cultural symbols, learning and social interaction. Therefore, the success of the specific region is

seen to be conditional on cultural factors as human and social capital, interplay and learning between actors,

or more recently, creativity. (E.g. Barnett 1998, Barnes 2001, Copus 2001 and 2004, Boggs &Rantisi 2003,

Kainulainen 2005.)

Traditionally, studies of creativity have sought to identify the causes of creativity examining individuals and

their thinking skills or motives. However, instead of the looking at the causes of creativity on an individual

level, there has been a growing interest in the effects and social nature of creativity. Because creativity has a

major role in innovation processes, it has become one of the key elements in the regeneration of

organizations and businesses and, consequently, it has been seen as a passport to regional performance and

advantage. Recently, creativity has dominated the development of regions not least because of Richard

Florida‟s famous theses of creative class and geography of creativity. (E.g. Florida 2002, Mumford 2003,

Runco 2004.)

This emphasis on the significance of creativity has led to a tendency to highlight the importance of the so-

called creative industries as the engine of economic growth (Howkins 2001, Florida 2002). Although there is

a polymorphism of the definitions of the creative industries (e.g. Pratt 1997, Hall 2000), Cunningham (2002)

sees the concept as useful, because it illustrates new economy enterprise dynamics even better than such

terms as “the arts”, “media” or “cultural industries”. While many creative enterprises can be found within the

arts and media branches, creative industries cannot be defined merely as branches or sectors of culture like

architecture, design, music, fashion etc., but through the concentration of creativity within each sector

(Figure 1.). The sphere model below emphasises the gradations of cultural or creativity intensity between

different professions and types of businesses (Lange, et al. 2008, Kainulainen 2005).

5

Figure 1.The creativity intensity of industries (Throsby 2001 cited in Kainulainen, 2005

and Kaunisharju 2009).

Regardless of the way in which the creative industries are defined, there is no disagreement that they lay at

the centre of what can be called in broader terms the “creative economy”. The term “creative economy”

originated from Howkins (2001) who has reviewed the relationship between creativity and economics.

However, there is no unique definition of the “creative economy” since it is a concept that is still being

shaped.

Many academics of urban and regional growth, such as Park et al. (1925), Thompson (1965) and Jacobs

(1984) have stressed the role of places as incubators of creativity, innovation and new industries. More

recently, Florida (2002, 2003), Spencer (2006) and many others have sustained this interest in the

interrelationships between places, in practice cities, and creativity. The most interesting question is why

certain places are more creative, innovative and prosperous than others. One view is Putnam‟s social capital

theory, which engages regional economic growth with tight-knit communities where people and companies

form and share strong networks (Putnam, 2000). Another approach is the human capital theory, which

argues that the key to regional growth does not lie in reducing production costs, but in the abilities of

creative, highly-educated and productive people (Glaeser 1998, Florida 2003).

From the basis of social and human capital theories Florida (2002, 2003) distinguishes creative capital

theory. From his perspective creative people have a key role in strengthening regional economic growth.

These people prefer places that are innovative, diverse and open-minded. The underlying factors in Florida‟s

theory are tolerance, talent and technology. Tolerance is connected to the presence of a large creative class,

which leads to a liberal social climate. The Creative class also improves the attractiveness of an area as a

place for highly educated and talented people to live. Thirdly creativity, social tolerance and a highly

educated labour force make a city or region attractive for high growth companies and facilitate their

innovativeness (technology). In the creative capital theory, these three aspects are the most important

indicators for the future economic success of the regions.

Also prior to Florida, Gunnar Törnqvist‟s theory of a creative milieu is noteworthy. It has significantly

similar aspects to the creative capital theory. In the creative milieu theory urban agglomerations play an

important role. According to Törnqvist (2004), cities offer several types of proximities at the same time: the

institution density and service diversity are greater than in other areas. In many cases, cities also have a rich

selection of cultural activities and diversity.

Core arts (e.g. dance, theatre,

concert music etc.)

Creative industries with aesthetic features (e.g.

fashion, architecture)

Creative industries / related activities (film

industry, TV, radio, publishing etc.)

Other industries which utilise the services provided by

the creative industries

6

What is common to these theories of creative capital and creative milieu is that their explanatory power does

not reach creativity and innovations in sparsely populated, peripheral and rural surroundings. They are,

ultimately, theories of urban growth although they contemplate the intertwinedness of cultural processes and

regional development. Despite the diminishing dependency of geographical distances, economic

development is leading to geographical concentrations in the form of agglomerations and clusters. This

pattern repeats itself also in the case of creativity since the creative class seems to be accumulating in cities.

At the same time, rural areas seem to remain on the peripheries of the creative economy (Gibson & Klocker

2005). In general, rural areas simply have not been noticed as having the conditions that promote growth in

the creative sector (Burns & Kirkpatrick 2008). The common understanding is that urban environments are

more fruitful to creative activities than their rural counterparts (Stam et al. 2008). It seems that the main set

of problems originating from rurality can be summed up as a relatively thin set of culture sector clusters and

a lack of adequate critical mass in cultural fields.

However, it is not only in the major cities that cultural activities and clusters may arise. In many regions of

Europe, similar processes are going on to produce local concentrations of cultural production that both

provide economic empowerment for the community, commodification of local culture and which also reflect

the traditional knowledge, skills and cultural traditions of the people (Creative Economy Report 2008).

Therefore, in order to create and ameliorate these local culture clusters in rural areas efforts are needed to

connect them with regional, national and international development measures and development networks.

1.2 The role of the policies supporting creative economy and cultural entrepreneurship in

rural areas

The enhancement of the creative economy and creative industries is more or less explicitly based on the

presupposition that creativity can be fostered, steered or governed one way or another. Within the regional

development context culture can be seen as something that has both an intrinsic value and an instrumental

value as a driver of economic development, employment and regional identity. Using culture and creativity

as tools in regional development is not a new phenomenon. From a historical perspective, a continuum can

be seen back to the rise of the nation-states, when culture was used as a social and political instrument within

the strategies for building the strong and homogenous nations (Lysgård & Tveiten 2005). From the 1980s

onwards, the fall of the Keynesian welfare state model and the new neo-liberal ideology resulted in cuts in

state subsidies and the economic crisis in 1990s resulted in a decrease in spending on culture as well. This

led to a new logic based on an economic argument. The general view of this new political strategy was

characterised by cutting public expenditure on culture and instead encouraging the private sector to invest in

the cultural sector. Economic performance and profitability became the leading principles, and the cultural

sector turned out to be an engine for economic growth, innovation and urban regeneration (Lysgård &

Tveiten, 2005). This progression prepared the ground for later discourses about creative industries and

cultural entrepreneurship. However, despite the change in policy discourses, the question still remains,

whether creativity can be steered or governed in order to gain the desired results (e.g. Lange, et al. 2008).

7

Namely, creativity is based on the manifestation of often rebellious people whose behaviors make them

somewhat resistant to various development, policy and business interventions. In that sense creative

practitioners can be difficult to “manage”. Actually, the relationship between development policies and the

creative industries is under vivid academic discussion across Europe, as it seems that the existing national

policies, business services and subsidies are often unable to reach the cultural entrepreneurs. Reasons for this

ineffectiveness are supposed to derive from two likely factors: either the conventional ways of supporting

entrepreneurship are unsuitable for supporting the cultural entrepreneurs, or the cultural entrepreneurs are

unable to detect the existence of the business support services and utilize them. These problems are

especially acute in rural areas, where institutional density is low and services for cultural entrepreneurs are

poorly developed.

In analysing cultural entrepreneurs static concepts

of entrepreneurship are not considered very useful

because “outsiders” as well as independent

creative artists are the central characters in

creative industry (DeFillippi et al. 2007). It can be

said that creative enterprises are characterised by

growing culturepreneurship, an expression of a

new flexible form of work and entrepreneurship

(Lange et al. 2008).

In reference to the political shift to neo-liberalism,

cultural outcomes have been the objects of

cultural policy in the past with little emphasis on

economic outcomes. Now the shift to focus on

economic aspects has caused problems for the

sector. Probably because of this shift business

support programmes for the creative industries

often clash with the world views of the target

group.

These clashes mostly relate to assumptions about

what a serious business should look like.

Stereotypical growth strategies, old-fashioned

marketing models and pre-formulated job

delineations are applied to entrepreneurs who

actually don‟t fit in with the order-and-control

management beliefs tied to mechanistic business philosophy (Poettschacher 2005). Despite the problems

recognised, a great number of strategies can be found in which culture is an essential tool for local and

regional development (An Innovative and Creative Future for Europe 2009). An essential question is: who

should change their behaviour: creative actors, business managers or both? Business managers have to act as

negotiators of creativity by connecting different talents, by being able to inject diversity or deal with creative

tensions. The governance of creativity has to find the right balance between freedom on the one hand and

operational efficiency on the other (European Commission 2009).

Public authorities meet the culturepreneurship phenomenon mostly at a local or regional level. On the local

level rural municipalities usually have general business development services of their own or they have small

joint business service or technology centres with their neighbour municipalities, as is the case in Finland.

8

Experts working in the general business development services, such as trade promoters, are important

mediators in the sense that they have the best knowledge of local conditions and provide easy access to

services for local entrepreneurs. However, the main problem is the fact that they usually do not have

specialist skills aimed at servicing cultural entrepreneurs.

Generic business skills and especially marketing skills are the most serious skills gap that rural creative

companies, especially arts-based and micro-enterprises, face. Supporting market expansion and development

is crucial among these rural enterprises since they need to access markets outside their local area and

penetrate national and international markets (Burns & Kirkpatrick 2008). What has remained somewhat

unclear is how well creative practitioners have internalised these new requirements or how willing they are

to connect with the business world in general. Also contemporary research has looked more on the factors

that motivate creative people in the organisations and workplaces in the urban context (Florida, 2003). There

is less academic discussion on what motivates creative enterprises as a whole and especially how creative

industries are fostered, steered and governed in rural surroundings.

In sum, more comprehensive understanding about the differences and complementarity of creative industries

in the urban–rural continuum is needed. At the same time we need to understand better the complex

relationship between creative people and the business world. Another important issue is to grasp the

challenges of rural development agencies connecting creative practitioners with regional and national

development programmes.

Synthesising the introductory concepts in this paper a question can be raised: can creativity be enhanced or

governed by policy tools in a way that it does not harm or eventually quell the original creativity in rural

areas? If the answer is yes, the challenge is to deliberate what kind of policy improvements and tools are

needed to meet the needs of creative practitioners, and simultaneously, we need to determine how to lever

creative resources to develop the regional and rural economy. What can be said for sure is that regional and

rural development undoubtedly needs culture as a driving force, but that development policies open new

possibilities and resources for creative practitioners as well. This report aims to deepen understanding about

the characteristics of cultural development in European rural areas. The viewpoint of the approach in the

report is from one European rural region which is South Ostrobohnia in Finland. The focus is on specific

tools for ameliorating cultural activities in rural areas, namely the European Regions of Culture project

(EROC) and its goal, the European Region of Culture designation. Although the focus has been on one

region, findings and conclusions presented in the report can be generalized to some extent to other European

rural regions.

9

2. Background: South Ostrobothnia region

One of the three regions involved in the EROC project among Cornwall in south-western England and

Kujawsko-Pomorskie in Poland is South Ostrobohnia in western Finland. South Ostrobothnia can be

characterised as non-urban region dominated by rural municipalities. The total population of the region is

around 194 000 inhabitants. The regional centre is Seinäjoki town, with more than 56 000 inhabitants. The

region is well known for entrepreneurship and large number of small and medium size enterprises. Main

industries are agribusiness, food and wood processing and machinery. The number of small enterprises per

number of inhabitants is one of the highest in the whole country. On the other hand, the level of education,

particularly to degrees level, is one of the lowest. Since the late 1980s the region has been active in creating

new kinds of development projects, services and organisations aiming at accelerating economic

development. The distance between Seinäjoki town and the Capital of Finland Helsinki is 350 kilometres

(217 miles). (Figure 2.)

The strengths of the South Ostrobothnia region in cultural activities are popular and folk music, festivals

based on music and as well as arts and crafts. The cultural flavour of the region is largely based on its

yeomen history and way of life (the low lands of South Ostrobothnia are rich in agricultural resource). Also

the region is characterized by cultural landscapes shaped by fields and peasant houses that represent the

yeomen‟s wealth and the way of life. The culture of South Ostrobothnia is imbued with the spirit of

entrepreneurship, which is also reflected in the cultural life of the region.

Figure 2.South Ostrobothnia region in Finland

South Ostrobothniaregion

Helsinki

10

3. Insights into the European Region of Culture designation in South

Ostrobothnia

3.1 Objectives and methodologies

The essential questions in this report are: “to what extent the development of cultural activities, especially

cultural entrepreneurship, differs in rural areas from that of bigger cities and urban areas” and “how rural

culture in general can be ameliorated”. In order to answer these questions and to create a deeper

understanding about the characteristic of development of cultural activities in rural areas and to evaluate the

EROC concept we carried out two surveys. Surveys were based on both web-based questionnaire completed

by cultural actors in South Ostrobothnia region as well as thematic interviews with the artists involved in the

EROC project.

There were three main themes both in the questionnaire and thematic interviews: cultural activities in the

region, attitudes towards cultural entrepreneurship and attitudes towards a potential European Region of

Culture designation. Results from the questionnaire and thematic interviews are combined in the following

chapters.

The thematic interviews were implemented during the event week of the EROC project in Lapua, August

2009. A total of six artists, three from South Ostrobothnia, two Cornish and one Polish artist involved in the

project were interviewed during the event week. They represented various branches of culture: e.g. visual art,

theatre and arts and crafts. What was common to all of them is that they mainly live and work as artists

outside metropolitan areas. Interviews were conducted face-to-face and transcribed verbatim. Quotations are

shown below to illustrate artists‟ opinions.

In addition to the thematic interviews there was an electronic questionnaire completed by cultural actors in

South Ostrobothnia region. A link for the electronic questionnaire was sent by an e-mail to artists, culture

associations, craftspeople, managers etc. around the region. E-mail addresses were provided by the Regional

Council of South Ostrobohnia. Since the e-mails were sent by using the listings of actors and since

respondents were also encouraged to pass the information forward, the exact number of receivers cannot be

reported. There were both fixed and open-ended questions in the questionnaire. Replies to the open-ended

questions were classified and then post-coded in order to get an overview of the data. Results are presented

as charts where separate themes are illustrated as absolute numbers of mentions found in data.

A total of 54 respondents replied in the questionnaire. Respondents were mainly female (72 %). Majority of

the respondents (56 %) were in the age group 41-60 years. None of the respondents were under 20 years old.

As for the branches of culture, responses diverged largely. Yet, music and visual art were the main branches.

Respondents of the study considered themselves mainly as artists or third sector actors. Only 11 % of the

respondents considered themselves to be cultural entrepreneurs (Figure 3.).

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Figure 3. Nature of the cultural activity of the respondents (N=54)

3.2 Main findings

3.2.1 Cultural activities in South Ostrobothnia region

There were two questions about the role and the outlook of the respondents with regard to cultural activities

in South Ostrobothnia region. 47 of a total of 54 respondents replied to the question about cultural

atmosphere and support for culture in the region (Figure 4.). Opinions about the cultural atmosphere were

polarized. Despite comments that the overall will to support culture is good, there seems to be a need for

improvements as a whole. The majority of the respondents thought that cultural activities are undervalued in

terms of decision-making at the municipal level. This manifests itself as lack of resources (money, premises,

lack of professional teachers etc.). Some of the respondents highlighted that different branches of culture are

not equally considered when deciding how to invest resources. It was even stated outright that there is a kind

of a rivalry between different culture sectors. Lack of coordination was identified as one major problem that

hampers the development of the cultural sector. Other comments were emphasised the role of cultural

associations.

12

Figure 4. Atmosphere and support for culture in South Ostrobothnia region

Respondents were asked about their roles as cultural actors in the South Ostrobothnia region (Figure 5.).

There were 48 replies to this question. Most of the respondents considered themselves as primarily local or

local and regional actors. Typically, they were operating in surrounding environments in cultural

associations. Yet, as one of the respondents noted, “Think globally - act locally” is a basic principle for

cultural activities. Actually, lines between regional, national and global actors are not easy to draw. Other

comments were related to respondents‟ contribution to the region.

Figure 5.The role of the respondent as cultural actor

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

Other

Lack of coordination

Different branches of

culture are unequal

Lack of resources

(money, premises,

professionals)

Good athmosphere for

supporting culture

Cultural activities are

undervalued

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Audience

Primarily national actor

Other comments

Primarily local actor

Local, national and global actor

Primarily local and regional actor

13

Interviewed South Ostrobothnian artists were also asked how they would describe themselves: are they local

artists or “cosmopolitans”. As was the case with the respondents of the questionnaire, the interviewed artists

considered themselves both local and global and the line between these was hard to draw. However, they all

had a strong ambition to become international artists. These quotations illustrate how locality and non-

locality are both present in artists‟ contemplations about themselves as artists.

“It can be said that I am cosmopolitan (…) but when I am here, I feel like a local, since I do

not have those contacts available…” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“I consider myself more like national actor, but I do go around the world and follow what is

going on elsewhere.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

”At the moment rather local, but I am striving to be an international artist. I have had more

and more exhibitions abroad.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

Interviewed artists from both South Ostrobothnia as well as from the other regions within the EROC project

considered the region they work and live mainly as non-metropolitan and rural. The reasons why they chose

these rural locations were more or less accidental and based on their personal life-paths. Advantages of the

rural location were mainly related to cheaper living costs and peaceful environment but also the fact that it is

easier to “be somebody” in rural area and not to disappear into the mass of cultural actors as could easily be

the case in big cities. The downsides of rural locations are: lack of urban culture and urban tolerance, the

difficulty of attracting media attention and simply geographical distance to urban centres. Actually, there are

differences as to the prerequisites for artistic work and clustering of culture between the rural areas.

Cornwall, for instance, has some lead compared to South Ostrobohnia region since there have been

significant efforts in developing creative industries and the region has managed to attract creative people

(e.g. Brownridge & Lancaster 2005, Suutari 2007). This is well illustrated in the Cornish artist‟s comments

about the virtues of Cornwall.

”…I haven’t regretted that I moved in here. The only thing I miss is the city. This isn’t a real

city. (…) I have a strong contact with local and regional people. Nothing major to complain

about, maybe the biggest issue is that audience that is rather conservative.” (Artist, South

Ostrobothnia)

“The living and working costs are reasonable here. I can easily make my earnings here.

There is a “hole” for me here. (…) I have noticed that I don’t have that many competitors on

this branch and in this region. On the other hand, when thinking about the downsides, it is

difficult to get media attention here in a remote area, especially national media attention. (…)

there are interesting seminars and events in the capital region but you get an e-mail one day

before, but you cannot just go there. So, it somehow limits your opportunities to work on this

branch. (…) But if you are active here, you can get easily a chance to become a member of a

board in some association. So, I am happy with things here.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

”It was by a happenstance that I stayed here. When I was young I thought that I would go to a

14

big city, but now that I have kids, I think that it is good to stay here in a peaceful place. There

is an advantage that there are not many competitors. On the other hand, it is a disadvantage

too because you feel yourself rather lonely and there are no colleagues. But you can go to

Helsinki and other places to see other artists. It is peaceful here. And these surroundings are

inspiring.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“I chose to live in Cornwall because of the quality of life. (…) Sometimes if you are working

with some difficult issue then the environment where you are in raises your spirit. (…) That

can be a very helpful in a creative process. I think as well that, there are very interesting

things going in Cornwall, partly because they have European funding, and we have a long

history of artist living in Cornwall area, because it’s right on the edge, on the end of the UK. I

think there are people who are quite alternative, bohemian. There are lot of creative people in

the creative industries, which makes it very stimulating as well. So the people and also the

University, and the work they are doing make it very interesting as a place which is growing

in terms of an artist’s creative potential.” (Artist, Cornwall)

Despite the rural location and geographical distances to big cities, the “aspatial” nature of artistic work

makes artists less bound to certain places. As interviewed artists described, they are working in multiple

locations and in many places, both rural and urban. Even though they have studios or “home bases” in their

own in rural surroundings, they go all around the country and abroad.

”Clients and end-users are all over the country. I work with my production here in South

Ostrobothnia, but I do regularly go around the country. I have exhibitions here and there.”

(Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“These exhibitions are all over the country. I actually do the creative work here; my studio is

here near home. I do not have to go far away.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“I work in both in rural and urban places. I make work with the environment, about nature. I

also make a work about the city cultures as well.” (Artist, Cornwall)

It is important for the artists to get new ideas and inspiration for they work. That is why we asked them to

describe what the sources of their inspiration are. As we noticed, the inspiration is not necessarily that much

region-bound. Region does always play a certain role, but sources of inspiration and new ideas for their work

come from the course of life in general, from their emotions, from nature and meeting other people.

“My main source of inspiration is usually emotions and feelings. (…)On the other hand they

are related to nature (…) Also culture history is a strong source of inspiration: old

techniques, materials but also the new ones (…) also human relations.” (Artist, South

Ostrobothnia)

”Literature is very important, I read a lot. (…) Of course I try to meet other people a lot, as I

have done during this EROC project. (…) Of course from nature, I portray this region too.”

(Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

15

Creativity is very much about combining diverse, complementary capabilities of heterogeneous actors and

complementary bodies of ideas and knowledge. From the spatial viewpoint non-local and inter-regional

networks are essential for new impulses. People who do not belong to each others‟ usual networks are more

likely sources of new information. Thus, the diversity of thinking (so called cognitive diversity) is the key for

new impulses. However, it seems that rural areas are at a disadvantage because a high population density is

seen as a precondition for diversity and forms the basis for creativity (e.g. Spencer 2006). On the other hand,

it can be assumed that where there are less people and maybe no peers at all in physical proximity, there is a

necessity to meet people representing other branches as it is more likely the case in rural environments. In

principle, this allows combining knowledge in a fruitful manner. (Suutari & Kurki 2009.)

The question of obtaining and

finding new impulses and sources of

information is strongly related to

creative practitioners‟ skills and

expertise. In order to find out how

those artists develop themselves, we

asked whether they had been able to

maintain their expertise in their field

of art in the region. As is the case

with all creative practitioners and

with knowledge workers too,their

ability to work successfullyin rural

location has always something to do

with the level of their expertise. It seems that it is somewhat challenging to become an expert but also to

maintain expertness in rural areas. For novices this is particularly difficult since they need peers that are

physically close so that they can learn and socialize within specific artistic or knowledge communities.

However, when the level of expertise rises, they seem to become less dependent on continual physical

proximity to their peers. They seem to become more “aspatial” and they are able to maintain connections to

their peer networks e.g. by ICT tools or by travelling. (E.g. Suutari & Kurki 2009.)

Therefore, even though the region itself does not offer sufficient educational services or the critical mass of

other artists located in immediate surroundings, they will be able to work successfully and develop their

expertise by reading, travelling and simply by self-access learning and doing. Despite the self-sufficiency,

there are things that artists miss and regions cannot offer to them. When we asked them to describe the

region from the viewpoint of an artist, they described that an atmosphere in South Ostrobothnia region as

somewhat conservative and they noted that there is lack of certain institutions and structures supporting art.

”Actually, I do not go to courses or supplement education. I do take part in some seminars,

read journals or go to exhibitions in Germany in order to update my expertise. This is more

like self-study.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

I paint every day in order to keep up my skills. My skills and expertise develop every, There

are no other choices in this region, it is more like self-study. (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

”There are artists in here, so there must good things anyway. I think that attitudes are just ok.

16

But compared to Helsinki, it is much more difficult here because we do not have that kind of

traditions, no galleries or such. You are somehow alone; you have to be a kind of an

entrepreneur here if you are going to succeed. (…) There is art society here, even though this

is a small community. I am involved in that.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

Artists were further asked to describe the South Ostrobothnia region from the viewpoint of cultural

practitioners. They stated that there are no sufficiently activities and structures that underpin artistic work

(e.g. education programmes, regional art exhibitions, art museums or galleries). It is a question about

resources but also because the intention to support culture and arts does not materialise as increased

investment. However, especially on regional level and by the Regional Council, there have been purposeful

efforts to bring out the impact of culture on the regional economy and welfare as well as offering tools for

the development of cultural activities.

“There is nothing wrong with the atmosphere, in terms of principles, and everybody talks

about supporting culture. But what is happening in practice is another thing. Regional

Council, for instance, and its culture board, have been active. So, nowadays the word culture

is used widely, maybe even too widely and too much things are related to it. Maybe it is a bit

inflated. There could be more money of course (…) but I am privileged because I have a

permanent job and I have had grants. I do understand those artists or writers who do not

have. Therefore public sector could support more local artists e.g. by buying their artworks.”

(Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“There are actually no galleries here, those are in Helsinki. I can be proud of the art museum

here, but as a whole, as for the art institutions, the situation is rather bad. If you think about

the education, so there is basically no education programmes for professional art. (…) I have

received grants and when I have asked help from local authorities, they have helped me.”

(Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

Since culture‟s role in revitalizing local communities and strengthening local identity is one of the

underlying themes of the EROC project, we asked artists to describe their role in local communities. They

seem to have interesting roles in their local communities. On the one hand, they seem to be active

benefactors responsible for the community and therefore strongly embedded. On the other hand, they are

trying to keep up certain distance to the locality in order to maintain their autonomy. This can be described

as the regulation of social distance between artists and local community. They are avoiding over-

embeddedness in order to maintain their openness to new influences. (e.g. Lähdesmäki & Suutari,

forthcoming).

” I surely am influential I can’t deny. (…) I contribute many things here. I cannot escape the

responsibility, because what I say seems to count. It means a lot for those with whom I am

working. I feel a strong responsibility of those people; I can’t leave them just like that.”

(Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“I’ve worked lot of with young people and disadvantaged young people to use art, I try to

encourage them trough art, to find hope from their future. (…) If local community has a plan

17

which is needed to be developed for the future we can use art as a way for the community to

have a voice to develop their ideas, to express the ideas through art. (…) I think that brings

life to local press and also the politicians. (…) I have worked in a local community a lot

using my art.” (Artist, Cornwall)

”I have strived to be active in this region. I do not want keep aloof here in my studio. I am

trying to be collaborative and communicative with local people. And I have succeeded in it

fairly well. There are lot of people visiting my studio, even further away. It is very important

for me. I hope I can give some liveliness to this region because there are not that many

professional artists here. I have been involved in many projects with the municipality.”

(Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“I would say that for me as an artist it is important to work outside my local, rural area for

me to increase the depth of my work. Because I see an artist as being like an anthropologist in

a way to understand your own community (…), it’s actually important to step outside if you

are in a society too, so it makes the work richer. I think people have more respect you too as

an artist if you can show you do international work. You have work in an open centres your

experiences aren’t just local.” (Artist, Cornwall)

”It is a kind of a role of a lunatic to be an artist here. I feel that artist is allowed to act

somehow more freely. I have noticed positive curiosity among local people. (…) But I need to

have a life of my own and clients outside the region. If I had to get all the clients here, I would

be suffocated. It would be horrible to make earnings like that. Because I am working mainly

outside the region, I don’t mind, what the local people think about me…” (Artist, South

Ostrobothnia)

Reciprocity with local community is well illustrated in various ways the artists collaborate with local

businesses. The artists describe how they are dependent on local businesses as clients. Local businesses do

not consider supporting art mere as charity but as reciprocal relationships. Reciprocity is illustrated as well

between personal goals and community efforts that were seen when asked about specific mission in a local

community. They were also contemplating the linkages between making art as a way of making one‟s

earnings and “higher goals”.

”They [businesses] are more like clients. (…) it is not a question about charity but reciprocal

relationships.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“I don’t know if there’s a specific mission (…) but I try to help people to find their own

resources so that they can feel their lives richer and stronger. (…) I am trying to wake up

people…” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

” I feel myself somehow as a paragon in a local community. My activities among local culture

give other people a possibility to be proud of their own culture. What I have to give to local

community is open-minded thinking, joy and sociality. I work mainly for my living, but the

way I am working, brings me along other missions.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

18

To sum up the artists‟ roles in local communities it seems that their positions are not unambiguous.They

seem to meet challenging expectations in their local communities: On the one hand they feel strong

responsibility for the community as paragons of a kind and therefore they are strongly rooted and embedded

in the local communities. On the other hand, they are trying to keep a certain distance to the locality in order

to maintain their autonomy and their openness to new influences. This balancing act is especially difficult for

the artists in rural areas since various role expectations are rather strong. As they commented, it is easier to

“be somebody” in rural area but simultaneously one easily sticks out from the crowd.

Since there is a lack of institutions and structures supporting art, the atmosphere is somehow conservative

and the region does not offer sufficient educational services or critical mass of peers, the artist must be very

self-sufficient in order to work successfully in rural areas. That is exactly where various tools are needed to

bring them new insights and enable collaboration widely.

3.2.2 Attitudes towards cultural entrepreneurship in South Ostrobothnia

Although South Ostrobothnia is known for entrepreneurship and active culture activity, only six

questionnaire respondents considered themselves as cultural entrepreneurs as shown earlier in Figure 3. The

same came out when asked about the cultural actors‟ sources of income (Figure 6). For the majority of the

respondents, cultural activities were mainly as a hobby and they had other sources of livelihood.

Figure 6.Ways of making a living (N=50)

Figures 7 and 8 show how roughly half of the respondents outright say that they do not consider themselves

as cultural entrepreneurs or haven‟t even thought about the possibility to become an entrepreneur. As can be

seen in Figure 7 and actually in Figure 3 as well, there are only six respondents who have a firm of their own

and consider themselves as cultural entrepreneurs.

19

Figure 7.Cultural entrepreneurship (N=49)

Figure 8.Opinions concerning cultural entrepreneurship (N=48)

We also asked the respondents about their experiences of support for cultural entrepreneurship both in

structured and open-ended questions. Most of the respondents recognised Regional Council of South

Ostrobothnia and the state regional business development office (Employment and Economic Development

Centre) as the main sources of information (Figure 9). What is somewhat surprising is the fact that only one

of the respondents had used the services of the Centre for New Businesses. Another remark is that the use of

various support services for businesses and entrepreneurship has been rather scattered.

20

Figure 9.Contacts for organisations supporting cultural entrepreneurship (N=36)

There were three open-ended questions about the attitudes towards cultural entrepreneurship. Only 13

respondents of total 54 replied more in detail when asked about experiences of business development

services. Those replied find services useful and appropriate. Mainly, they had been in contact with regional

and local business development officers and the state regional business development office. One respondent

commented that not all cultural actors can become entrepreneurs and one commented that business

developers sometimes have difficulties in understanding cultural activities as business.

Majority of the respondents (68 %) commented that they actually know where to get information of support

services for entrepreneurship. 20 % of the respondents stated that they do not know where to get information

about support services, but they are not even interested in those services. Only 9 respondents replied to the

open-ended question: “Do you need any assistance for entrepreneurship and what these things are.” They

needed assistance for hiring personnel, taxation issues, financial management and legal counselling.

21

Finally, respondents were asked what kind of development needs they consider in their cultural sector in the

near future (Figure 10). Just 37 of the respondents described these development challenges and needs. Most

of the respondents emphasised the betterment of the livelihood and continuity of the cultural activities. This

included e.g. product development, marketing and the role of culture producers and managers. Continuity

was an issue for concern especially among cultural associations. Respondents were worried about

diminishing number of members of these associations. Lack of resources was a general concern. Support for

professional art and artist was highlighted and e.g. the so called percentage principle (i.e. one percent of the

public building costs should be aimed at the purchase of arts) was stressed. Respondents saw that there are

challenges as for the strategic development of culture and there should be e.g. communal strategies for

culture, more collaboration between and educational supply should be clarified.

Figure 10.What are the main development needs in your cultural sector in the near future?

Earnings of the cultural actors and artists come from multiple sources as a combination of selling artworks,

teaching, grants etc. as can be seen on Figure 6. There are many vocational challenges that creative

practitioners meet. Major challenge is that these people have to be multiply skilled in order to earn the living.

It is not enough to be a professional in one‟s own branch of culture but multiple skills are needed. This is

well illustrated in the quotations of interviewed artists.

”I act, direct and teach. (…) I addition to that, I work as a judge. I have written plays…”

(Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“Selling [artworks] is the main source of living. (…) I make my earnings by selling, designing

and teaching.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

”Earnings come mainly from selling artworks. There has to be something else just for sure. I

have been teaching (…) I work sometimes in a factory as a night watchman. It is not

impossible to make earnings by art but you have to be really active then.” (Artist, South

Ostrobothnia)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Strategic development

Premises

Support for professional art

Other comments

Resources

Continuity of cultural activities

Betterment of livelihood

22

We asked interviewed artist to describe, whether they consider themselves as a cultural entrepreneur or not.

We defined cultural entrepreneur as a self-employed person who does not necessarily have a firm but at lest

has a business orientation. We did not ask respondents to specify whether they have a firm or business name

or any other official form of business but instead we were interested in how they consider themselves. As

one artist stated, cultural entrepreneurship is about selling artefacts and expertise based on individual

creativity and skills. As a whole, artists‟ attitudes towards cultural entrepreneurship in their own field of art

were rather positive. Actually, these artists involved in the EROC project seemed to be more open minded to

cultural entrepreneurship than culture actors in South Ostrobothnia region in general. They saw that there

will be new opportunities for entrepreneurship in their field of culture in the near future and their action will

expand and networks broaden.

”Not specially, I do not have a firm of my own. I have been told many times that I should have

a firm because it would benefit me in taxation. (…) I do not consider myself as an

entrepreneur at the moment.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

”Yes I do. (…) It is about cultural entrepreneurship when using own skills and creativity.”

(Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

”It gives me a freedom to come and go. I can be selective what I do and with whom. (…) Since

I am entrepreneur, I can collaborate with those people I especially want t collaborate. (…) It

takes time to find one’s own paths and style. Designing products takes time too. And to

explain and argue to someone why they should pay for this, it is a job of businessmen. (…) It

is a tricky business.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

Interviewed artists from South Ostrobothnia did not have that many experiences about business development

services for entrepreneurs. One of them had been counselled concerning taxation and another had been in a

course for cultural entrepreneurs. As a whole, they are not that well aware about the services for the

development of businesses in the region. What is noticeable is that they even impugn the services available

as not suitable for creative practitioners.

”I have been given tax counseling in a tax office. I have been in contact with Employment and

Economic Development Centre, but I did not get the feeling that they could help me. It has

been said, that there should be specialists consulting creative practitioners. But it is maybe

better that those who offer these services are not specialized in just creative industries.”

(Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

”I am a bit of a proud because I feel that I don’t even need those services! I asked the

possibility to get launching aid. I did not get either funding or any other services.” (Artist,

South Ostrobothnia)

”I am not very well aware about the services. However, this kind of an entrepreneurship

differs from other types of entrepreneurship. Quite often the services are aimed at large

industrial companies and businesses. Only a few have such kind of know-how that could help

artists or cultural entrepreneurs. It would be needed here in South Ostrobothnia.” (Artist,

23

South Ostrobothnia)

Replies to the questionnaire and comments of the artists presented above illustrate the situation concerning

the business development services in relation to creative practitioners. At the regional level, the diversity of

public and semi-public business services is overwhelming. However, there is no organisation solely serving

cultural industries and entrepreneurs. Instead, incentives are scattered into numerous different organisations

and programmes, which are governed by state and municipal funded organisations. Moreover, these

incentives are often planned to be implemented in urban areas. This is a great challenge for the future, not

just in South Ostrobothnia region but all around the rural Finland and Europe.

Essential questions in this context are: should there be business development services aimed especially at the

creative practitioners and to what extent development of cultural entrepreneurship differ in rural areas from

that of bigger cities? It seems that major part of the problems concerning suitability of various business

development services is basically the same regardless of operational environment. As for the first question,

interviewed artists were interested in services supporting their business skills but simultaneously they were

somehow sceptical about specific business development services for creative practitioners. Instead, they

emphasised the role of managers, agents or agencies. What has to be stressed is that even though they need

help for the business and marketing skills in general, the solution is not simply to create new business

development services for creative practitioners but more like advancing the existing ones (e.g. Suutari 2007).

”I think it would be especially important for the artists. We might be that sort of people, that

we simply don’t think practical issues. We just think about making art.” (Artist, South

Ostrobohnia)

”Business skills of the creative people are weak. But it won’t get any better if there are more

services. There should be a change in creative people’s mind. Cultural entrepreneurs would

need sales channels, agents or agencies. If there would be an agent funded by public funding,

who would not take commissions for artists, it might be payable support. It simply is not

reasonable to try to teach artist to sell…” (Artist, South Ostrobohnia)

”There could be training. Many of the artists don’t know how difficult it is to become an

entrepreneur. I would have needed a manager who would take care of the relationships. It

would be ideal if there would be a professional manager who had networks and relationships.

You can do these things all by yourselves but it is time-consuming.” (Artist, South

Ostrobohnia)

I think any industry needs (…) services. To creative practitioners there shouldn’t be any

difference. (…) The kind of services I would like to have I have already received in terms of

helping to plan businesses, work committee taxes…” (Artist, Cornwall)

From the cultural actors‟ and artists‟ point of view, in the end, it is a question about livelihood. Even though

cultural entrepreneurship is a strong and widespread discourse, the development of entrepreneurship is

challenging since e.g. roughly half of the South Ostrobothnian respondents say that they do not consider

themselves as cultural entrepreneurs or haven‟t even thought about the possibility to become an entrepreneur.

Therefore, it cannot be focused one-eyed to the development of cultural entrepreneurship. There must be

24

legitimacy for other types of development activities as well. Earnings of the cultural actors and artists come

in any case from multiple sources as a combination of selling artworks, teaching, grants etc. There are many

vocational challenges that creative practitioners meet. One major challenge is that these people have to be

multiply skilled in order to earn the living. It is not enough to be a professional in one‟s own branch of

culture but multiple skills are needed. Therefore, in order to promote artists‟ livelihood there is a need for

various updating education programmes alongside with entrepreneurial skills development.

Multiple sources of livelihood necessitate not only multiple skills but also structural actions in a societal

level that remove the hindrances of part-time entrepreneurship and such welfare benefit system, for instance,

that supports artists‟ livelihood based on short term contracts, self-employment and periods of

unemployment. Unquestionably, these are things that are difficult to respond on a regional level, but it might

be possible to give tools to tackle with these issues on a European level and even within the European

Region of Culture context.

As for the problems originated from rurality, it can be condensed into the thinness of clustering of culture

and into the lack of the adequate critical mass in cultural fields. Dense networks between cultural actors and

enterprises as well versatile support services for entrepreneurship are more typical for the creative clusters in

urban regions. Rural areas cannot compete with these clusters as for the density and diversity of people,

networks and services. However, access to these clusters and networks is of utmost importance for the

creative practitioners. This is to say that those creative practitioners working in a rural location are more

likely to miss these networks or at least it necessitates extra efforts for them to join. (Brownridge &

Lancaster 2005, Twomlow & Brownridge, 2007.

Therefore, rural areas and creative people there should be attached to a regional, national and international

development measures and development networks (e.g. Suutari 2007). The European Region of Culture

designation as a one of these development networks for ameliorating cultural activities in rural Europe seems

to be very promising tool.

25

3.2.3 South Ostrobothnia and European Region of Culture designation

Respondents of the questionnaire were asked what they consider especially distinguishable in South

Ostrobothniathat should be highlighted if it were European Region of Culture (Figure 11). There were 50

respondents out of 54 who replied this question. Most of the respondents mentioned regional identity and

handicrafts. They emphasised that cultural identity of the region is strong, unique and recognizable. Cultural

identity was described with words like rootedness, traditional and entrepreneur-minded. In addition to that,

breadth of the cultural activities was mentioned. Of all culture sectors, handicrafts were seen as the most

distinguishable sector that should be highlighted if South Ostrobothniawould be designated as European

Region of Culture. Indeed, handicraft included arts and crafts are, as regards to statistics, the most

voluminous branch of cultural industry in the region (e.g. Heikkilä & Hietanen 2007). Carpenters and

knifemakers were mentioned as good examples of these local craftspeople.

Cultural landscapes and expanse of fields, which is the most typical landscape feature for the region, were

mentioned as one of the most distinguishable features of the region. Related to cultural landscapes, built

environment and architecture, mainly old peasant houses and world-famous Alvar Aalto‟s architecture were

highlighted as well. Folk music and music festivals together form a strong area of the regional culture. As a

whole, the region is known for its‟ various rhythm music festivals (e.g. Provinssi Rock, Tango Festival and

folk music festivals).

Some of the respondents stressed cultural history individually. Even though cultural history was connected

with several other answers (e.g. regional identity, handicrafts, folk music) they mentioned separately cultural

history and social movements typical for the region (e.g. revival movements). Visual arts, theatre, local

literature and dialect and dance got references among respondents. Other things to be highlighted were

workable public culture services e.g. libraries.

Figure 11.What is especially distinguishable in South Ostrobothniathat should be highlighted if it were

European Region of Culture?

0 5 10 15 20

Dance

Literature and dialect

Other

Theatre

Visual arts

Built envirnoment

Cultural history

Music festivals

Folk music

Landscapes

Handicrafts

Local and regional identity

26

Also all the interviewed six artists were asked about what is special in South Ostrobothnia region that should

be highlighted if it were designated as European Region of Culture. They stressed the same things as the

respondents of the questionnaire: landscape, nature, traditions, built environment and mentality of the people

in general. Some of the features, as nature or sauna, are related to Finland in general but there were region-

specific things too as built environment and particular mentality of people in the region.

”Landscape, cleanness and nature.And phenomenon such as summer theatres. Four seasons,

if we still have those. The colors of the landscapes are fantastic when it is changing from grey

to green. Nature and environment are absolutely one of the strength. (Artist, South

Ostrobothnia)

”As a person, who is interested in traditions and history, I would hope that… even though we

are proud of our built environment, I can’t understand this enthusiasm to destroy old

buildings and all those marks of past. (…) This year would help us to appreciate own

history.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

”We have plenty of things; we have Alvar Aalto of course who is the most famous. It is

reasonable to start with those well-known things. (…) In addition to that we have nature,

tranquility cleanness…” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“I found it interesting that during my research was that the Finns have been presented as a

melancholic people, and very without humour. But I found it opposite. I found that Finns has

a very good sense of humour. They express it different way, but that is been good. Also the

way how the culture is strongly relates the nature especially the folk songs I have heard. The

person who has written the song is using nature as a platform to feelings. That’s something

what has been striking. Also realising how the white and the blue, snow and the sky, how they

are reflecting.” (Artist, Cornwall)

“…everything I saw was interesting for me. Red houses with white frames in the window, is

very typical for this region and space, the fields, and many beautiful things, the little letter

boxes near the roads and some saunas, everyone has a sauna… Very beautiful place for me!”

(Artist, Kujawsko-Pomorskie)

“I have to say that in Lapua, in a cultural centre the people I’ve met here have a special

mentality, hosts have been so kind, so positive and supporting. People have had to work hard

to have these good qualities of life, they are determinate. I think the cultural centre is very

amazing. Stuff is very happy to working here. Here is positive spirit.” (Artist, Cornwall)

Responses to the question: “if there would be a European Region of Culture designation in South

Ostrobothnia, what kind of activities would you like to see in your region?” followed responses to the

question concerning regional distinctiveness (Figure 12). There were 50 respondents as well who replied this

question. Most of the respondents emphasised music festivals based on folk and rhythm music tempting

performers not only from the region but all over Europe. Alongside music festivals it was wished that there

would be cross art form events and festivals. These festivals should be public events open to everyone

regardless of age offering opportunities for participants to take part in activities.

27

As a means to organise cultural events during the designation respondents suggested networking especially

regionally and within various domains of culture but also inter-regionally within other European regions.

Another thing mentioned was the development of existing events and festivals, e.g. by using European

networks. Cross art forms and European and international collaboration were highlighted by artists too as

following citations show.

Village culture and rural marketplaces were mentioned as one of the activities that could be highlighted and

created for the purpose of the designation. Respondents stressed the small-scale and authentic atmosphere of

these kinds of events. Since there are many theatre groups in South Ostrobothnia region, respondents wished

that theatre events and festivals could be visible part of the campaign as well. Both village culture and

traditions were seen one of the major sources of activities. There are several resorts presenting cultural

history (e.g. museums) but respondents stressed that history should be animated in various ways.

Both visual arts and literature were mentioned as regards to international contacts and it was also suggested

that there could be high-profile one-week events for both literature and visual arts. Even though handicrafts,

craftsmanship and built environment form the bases for the uniqueness of the region, not that many

respondents mentioned them as a main activity of the European Region of Culture designation. Instead, plain

fields were mentioned as a suitable venue for the culture activities and festivals. Other new themes

mentioned were cultural “paths” and treks or a festival for cultural medicine.

Figure 12.If there would be European Region of Culture designation in your region, what kind of activities

would you like to see?

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Built environment

Handicrafts

Education

Specific venues for culture events

Literature

Visual arts

Other

Development of the existing events

Cultural history

Theatre festivals

Village festivals and rural marketplaces

Networking and cultural exhange

Public festivals

Cross art forms

Music festivals and events

28

”To strengthen these culture activities we already have here. We should invite visitors in

order to make it really European year. We could invite e.g. artists from these other regions.

This even week has been such a short period, that people here have missed this. It should be

spread all over the region. Our region has been in the rear as for foreign policy (…) we have

lot to learn here.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

”International collaboration. To celebrate own culture of course. The question is how to show

it to rest of the Europe. Do we get more visibility, attention and communication with other

nations? That is something I would like to see.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

” I would like to see different culture sectors, cross art forms and that kind of interaction.

There could be visual arts, music and theatre. (…) People could see the great variety of art

forms.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

The respondents of the questionnaire were asked whether there should be an extensive theme for the

European Region of Culture designation in South Ostrobothnia region or not (Figure 13). They were given

the examples of the possible themes such as cultural associations, supporting entrepreneurship or children‟s

culture. There were 49 respondents who replied this question. Almost all of them considered that particular

theme would be a good idea. Most of the respondents mentioned cultural entrepreneurship at a rather general

level as the main theme that could be chosen. Also culture associations and children‟s culture were

supported. However, there were plenty of other broad ideas and suggestions for the new themes. It was

suggested that there could be rather abstract themes such as “Change”, “Identity” or artistic experiences in

general instead of more conventional or benefit-oriented themes.

It was especially emphasised that culture belongs to all of us regardless the age group or skills. On the other

hand, two respondents stressed that if there was a specific theme, it should be aimed at professional artists

and designation should support their work in the first place. There were also three main themes that emerged

in responses: cultural history, rural culture and connections between culture and welfare. Other comments

considered the significance of regional culture in general.

29

Figure 13.Should there be an extensive theme for the European Region of Culture designation in South

Ostrobothnia region or not?

Respondents were asked whether they or the culture association they are representing would like to

collaborate somehow if there would be this designation (Figure 14.). 47 of a total of 54 respondents replied

this question. Most of them would like to join as event organisers mainly organising music events. They

were typically representing culture associations. Some of the respondents were interested in collaborating by

supporting new ideas to emerge or developing new products (e.g. for cultural tourism). There were also

respondents willing to take care of public relations, communications and promoting culture abroad. The rest

of the respondents were willing to participate as performers or audience, organising art exhibitions,

presenting regional and local cultural history, offering premises for venues and conducting research and

education projects. Other themes mentioned were e.g. organizing international workshops.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Culture and welfare

Supporting professional artists

Annually changing themes

Cultural activities in rural areas

Folklore and cultural history

Culture for all

Other comments

Children's culture

Culture associations

New ideas and themes

Cultural entrepreneurship

30

Figure 14. How would you like to contribute if there were European Region of Culture designation in your

region?

Respondents were asked what they expect for the designation for the European Region of Culture to bring

along (Figure 15). They were given examples as new resources, new connections and visibility. All but one

of the respondents replied this question. Majority of them chose these three themes as the main expectations.

Some of the respondents described more broadly how they would like to find equivalent culture associations

around Europe and cultural exchange possibilities to go abroad, to establish new forums for collaboration

and to create new contacts for joint projects etc. Visibility at the European level would raise the image of the

region and that would be realized in cultural tourism for instance. New resources were mentioned as for

maintaining and developing activities or organising events that cannot be otherwise organised.

Some of the respondents highlighted new ideas and motivation as well as valuation for the culture that would

come alongside the designation. Other themes mentioned were the significance of cultural and artistic

experiences for the people in rural areas and the main idea of the designation that all new and interesting is

not happening in big cities and centres. Yet, there were two sceptical comments about the main idea of the

European Region of Culture. These respondents commented that it won‟t live up with the high expectations

and that the idea should be further clarified.

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Other

Other development (e.g. research, projects)

Offering premises and resorts

Presenting cultural history

Organising art exhibitions

Participating as performer or audience

Promoting culture

Other support (new ideas etc.)

Organising and producing events

31

Figure 15. What do you expect for the designation for the European Region of Culture to bring along?

Finally, all the interviewed six artists were asked about the EROC project and what made them to join it. The

main reasons for joining the project were an opportunity to internationalise, to get new experiences and

wider their horizons. Their expectations for the project were positive and they looked forward to meeting

other artists and get new networks.

“I thought it’ll be a very exiting work with the European transnational project. I like to learn

a lot, meet new people, and see interesting places…” (Artist, Cornwall)

“It was an opportunity to earn some money. You know the major reason. But it’s not that

cynical as that. I was aware what project was trying to do. And I thought as an artist that I

was interested in that type of thinking. I thought that is important. I contribute to create the

direction to project.” (Artist, Cornwall)

“Because of the develop of my artist view. Because it is important to see the difference in

different parts of world, compare with my place where I live. I don’t know could I do that

without EROC. That would be very difficult for me. This is a great opportunity to make wider

my horizon.” (Artist, Kujawsko-Pomorskie)

”There is a part of me that is looking for internationality. (…) I want new challenges. (…) It

sounded interesting, this collaboration between three regions. I thought beforehand that it

won’t be that easy. (…) I wanted to see other artists and get to know each other and to have

networks to use afterwards.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

”It gave me an opportunity to get international contacts, to learn and get new experiences.

This is a kind of an education for me and this is something new here. There is an interesting

“buzz” around this project and of course possibilities to network within this region too. (…) I

have been looking for new experiences and networks. That is what I have been waiting for and

it has happened.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Supporting valuation of culture

New ideas and motivation

Other

New resources

Visibility and image

New contacts

32

“I have been waiting for something like this for years. I am interested in internalisation. (…) I

want to get this rural culture developed and to get information into Brussels so that they will

understand that there are vitality and great culture in these regions. I have been always

fought for the countryside, and this fitted to my thoughts. I hope that we will be successful

with this so that there will be resources in rural areas as well, not just in big cities.” (Artist,

South Ostrobothnia)

Artists involved in the EROC project and cultural event weeks described experiences rather positively in

general and they were satisfied for joining the project. However, their comments illustrate that there have

been problems related mainly to the ways of organising the communication between the parties within the

project and practical arrangements of the event weeks. The language barrier has been one of the main

concerns for many of the participant artist but there have also been problems concerning feedback

possibilities and lack of time resources to getacquainted with the regions. Underneath is the dissatisfaction

for the consideration of the artists‟ opinions and needs. This discontent can be interpreted that artists think

that they have not been adequately in a focus of the project.Quotations shown illustrate that organising

international collaboration successfully is not an easy task. Therefore, the lesson should be taken from the

experiences of the EROC project when thinking about the European Region of Culture designation in future.

First thing to take into account is the communication not only within the core project group but between all

the parties involved in the implementation in order to maintain the commitment and enthusiasm for the

designation. The second, and at least as important thing, is the role of the target group: artists, cultural

workers, third sector actors etc. They should not be relegated to the minor part but be in the very focus of the

activities. The whole idea of the designation in regions is grounded on the creativity of local people and the

main objective is to support their initiative, not to subdue it.

“Generally good. There have been some problems so far mainly that are in the area of

communication, to be able to express your thoughts about the project. I think it is that we

make comments. But I don’t feel that comments fed back to me with an answer. So that we

contribute, but they the result is that nothing comes back in official way. Short conversations

maybe, but it needs more feedback.” (Artist, Cornwall)

“I think my experiences have been positive so far. I know that this is a pilot project. We have

some problems with organisation. But I think its okay for me…” (Artist, Kujawsko-

Pomorskie)

“I’m still pleased to be part of this project. I think I have experienced practical problems. I

think people are still learning how to manage a new project, how to organise things,

equipments etc. We depend on another people. We don’t know where to get things,

equipments, how to transport them. It is hard to know those things in another country. And the

language issue as well. Translators are needed more.” (Artist, Cornwall)

”Absolutely positive. This working method and getting to know those people takes time. So,

you don’t have that much time to become acquainted with the regions. (…) I hope that those

people I have been working with will remember me. I hope that I will meet these fellow artists

after this project again. (…) Negative experiences are related to administration and

33

arrangements and differences in working cultures. (…) Personally I haven’t succeeded as well

as would have like to.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“Interesting and unique, once in a lifetime experiences. It has been sometimes amusing, form

the viewpoint of an entrepreneur, to see how this kind of a big project goes. So much money

put on this! It does make sense, but sometimes I have been thinking that couldn’t this be done

in some other way?” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“Positive experiences. These artists form a good team to work together. (…) There have been

some practical problems, just because of language. But I am satisfied with the results.”

(Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

In general, the interviewed artists consider the baseline idea of the European Region of Culture designation

good. Anyhow, there were some suspicious comments too. Artists were not convinced of the method used in

the EROC project as an applicable method to the designation itself. The main problems seem to be related to

the tight time schedules and dissimilar working cultures. One week period was considered too short to get

acquainted with regional characteristics and to create real collaboration between artists, policy makers and

local residents. Therefore, the method should be evolved. The biggest challenge seems to be how to create

workable and fruitful collaboration between the regions. Naturally, artists did realise that the whole EROC

project is about testing and developing the methods of working together and learning how to accomplish the

designation. One of the interviewed artists was even concerned about the underlying agenda of the

designation as regional promotion tool, which might cause unwanted effects on the region in the form of

tourism.

”All that collaboration is a great thing. The differences between the regions play a major role

here. That is a problem, or on the other hand the strength of the EU. To combine different

expectations in different regions is difficult. But if you think about the funding system of the

designation, if it resembles the one in Capital of Culture, then these regions are not working

together but each and every get its own resources and goals. But if there will be situation that

we do it together, then we have to spend time to get know each other. Artists will get

acquainted with each other easily, but in a bureaucratic level, is it going to work? Language

will be a problem too, but I respect that other languages will be used as well.” (Artist, South

Ostrobothnia)

”To put it simply, I am convinced and enthusiastic about this idea. But I am not convinced the

method it is accomplished. I am not quite sure whether we can reach the goal, to create

European Region of Culture designation, with this group. I hope that designation would be

such a model that there will be collaboration and communication between the regions. There

could be, for instance, three regions simultaneously that would collaborate during that year.

So that people and artefacts could move freely, as it is pursued in Europe.”(Artist, South

Ostrobothnia)

”Really good idea. I hope it will succeed and this won’t just be a one project. This is a good

start. Of course it will be a hard work to accomplish.” (Artist, South Ostrobothnia)

“I think it is a very good idea. I don’t see a case of taking it away from an urban centre. I

34

think that it is really important to spread the resources around, rather than having them

centralised all the time to the city.” (Artist, Cornwall)

“I didn’t realize when I took part of this project that this is about marketing in away, getting

funding, I have concerns about that. I live in a very beautiful region and I don’t know what

way the tourism would effect to our community. I’m still not sure about this.” (Artist,

Cornwall)

Artists and cultural practitioners as a focus group of the project gave valuable insights for the future

development of the EROC concept. Experiences and views concerning the EROC project and European

Region of Culture designation stress regional distinctiveness based on local and regional identity and

collaboration among European regions. The collaboration seems to be the cornerstone of the whole concept.

Yet, the biggest challenges for the future seem to be how to create real collaboration between the parties and

between the regions

.

35

4. Conclusion: rationale for the European Region of Culture designation

The EROC project is based on the idea that cultural activities can be as vibrant, active and unique in non-

urban locations as in urban surroundings. Actually, rural areas can be seen as the source of cultural diversity

and originality whereas urban settings may even resemble more and more one another due to globalisation.

Changes in cultural policy and regional development policy discourses necessitate and stress

commoditisation of culture and economic rationality. Rural areas are not an exception here. Although a lot of

cultural diversity is rooted to the countryside, the problems of development of creative economy and cultural

industries originated from rurality can be summed up into the thinness of clustering of culture and therefore

into the lack of the adequate critical mass in cultural fields. Therefore, rural areas should be attached to

regional, national and international development programmes and networks. The role of nearby cities and

business services is to adapt and mediate local creativity into the markets.

European Regions of Culture designation as a one of these development networks for ameliorating cultural

activities in rural Europe, seems to be very promising tool. Based on the results derived from the project and

one of the project regions, there is a demand in rural areas for this kind of activity. Experiences and views

concerning the EROC project and European Region of Culture designation stress regional distinctiveness

based on local and regional identity and collaboration among European regions. The collaboration seems to

be the cornerstone of the whole concept. Yet, the biggest challenge for the future seems to be how to create

real collaboration between the parties and between the regions. The lesson should be taken from these

experiences and to take into account the communication not only within the core project group but between

all the parties involved in the implementation. The second, and at least as important thing, is the role of the

target group: artists, cultural workers, third sector actors etc. They should not be relegated to the minor part

but be in the very focus of the activities. The whole idea of the designation in regions is grounded on the

creativity of local people and the main objective is to support their initiative.

As a means to organise the designation respondents suggested networking especially regionally and within

various domains of culture but also inter-regionally within other European regions. Another thing mentioned

was the development of existing events and festivals by using European networks. Cross art forms and

European and international collaboration were highlighted by the artists too. International collaboration

based on the local and regional initiative seems to be another cornerstone for the further development of the

EROC concept.

In order to better understand the needs of those people who actually live and do their artistic work in rural

areas, we reviewed the characteristics of cultural activities, attitudes towards cultural entrepreneurship and

European Regions of Culture designation in rural region. Results showed us that artists‟ roles in local

communities are not unambiguous and they seem to face contradictory expectations: On the one, hand they

feel strong responsibility for the community and therefore they are strongly rooted and embedded in the local

communities. On the other hand they are trying to keep a certain distance to the locality in order to maintain

their autonomy and their openness to new influences. This balancing act is especially difficult for the artists

in rural areas since various role expectations are rather strong.

Since there is lack of institutions and structures supporting art or critical mass of peers, the artist must be

very self-sufficient in order to work successfully in rural areas. That is exactly where various tools are

needed to bring them new insights and enable collaboration widely.

36

Interviewed artists were interested in services supporting their business skills but simultaneously they were

somehow sceptical about specific business development services for creative practitioners. Instead, they

emphasised the role of managers, agents or agencies. What has to be stressed is that even though they need

help for the business and marketing skills in general, the solution is not simply to create new business

development services for creative practitioners but more like advancing the existing ones.

From the cultural actors‟ and artists‟ point of view, ultimately, it is a question about livelihood. Even though

cultural entrepreneurship is a strong and widespread discourse, the development of entrepreneurship is

challenging. Earnings of the cultural actors and artists come in any case from multiple sources as a

combination. Therefore, in order to promote artists‟ livelihood there is a need for various updating education

programmes alongside with entrepreneurial skills development. Multiple sources of livelihood necessitate

not only multiple skills but also structural actions in a societal level that remove the hindrances of part-time

entrepreneurship, for instance, and such welfare benefit system that support flexible systems of work and

entrepreneurship. Unquestionably these are things that are difficult to respond on a regional level, but it

might be possible to pay attention to these issues on a European level within European Regions of Culture

designation as well.

37

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