Vital city of culture

by Mr Mikael Karikoski and Ms Leena Ritala

Järvenpää has an unique cultural history and identity. It is a melting pot of old and modern innovative culture and attractive to both national and international visitors.

The strategic vision of Järvenpää -"Vital City of Culture" mainstreams culture as a horizontal priority in all urban development measures. Culture is not only the source of well-being of citizens, but a source of well-being of business life too. Cultural industry, cultural tourism, export of local culture, and cultural education are the key-words of development processes.

The internal and external cooperation of culture are conducted together with the staff of Järvenpää Hall and with the staff of Cultural Affairs, Business Development and International Affairs sections. The main international marketing and promotion areas are Scandinavian countries, Baltic countries, Mid-Europe, USA and Japan.

Cultural exchanges funded by European Union are also linked to the culture and city marketing. Järvenpää has participated in many cultural and educational projects funded by EU-pro-grammes Comenius, Rafael, Culture2000 and EYES.

Although cultural affairs are not an obligatory task of the municipality, Järvenpää carries out supporting and strengthening the cultural business environment. Public sector should not compete with enterprises in private sector, but the cooperation and synergic advantages should be created in the infrastructure. A multisectoral strategic planning group has concluded main measures for development. These measures should encourage more effective cooperation in resources, in international reputation, in development of image, brand and new products and services, in marketing and sales for new customer segments, etc. city continuously develops products in cultural tourism. Besides the tradition of Artists' community and Sibelius, many important modern artists live and work in the city and international cultural and artists' exchanges are very active and lively.