Development of cultural grants

The goal of the assessment

The assessment’s main question was whether the city has continued to develop cultural grants in accordance with the City Strategy and the Culture Unit’s service strategy. This was assessed by examining whether new operators and art forms had found support from the city. The assessment examined whether the objective of providing opportunities for Helsinki residents to encounter, experience, participate in, and make art and culture has been implemented in accordance with the Culture Unit’s service strategy. In addition, it assessed whether there has been support for older adults participating in arts and cultural activities and pursuing them as hobbies in accordance with the 2023 budget.

Conclusions

The Culture and Leisure Division has partially continued to develop cultural grants in line with the City Strategy and the service strategy of the Culture Unit. For example, grant types and their evaluation criteria were updated in 2022. There has been improvement in the availability and accessibility of cultural services for older people. It is impossible to assess the inclusion of new operators and art forms within the scope of the city’s support because their objectives and concepts are not very precisely defined. Cultural Services and Support has launched internal monitoring on this issue in 2023. The assessment found that the City Executive Office awards grants for resident-driven activities, some of which are similar to those awarded by the Culture and Leisure Division.