Special Subsidies for Cultural Activities in Sparsely Populated Areas

Call for applications

Application period:

11.05.2022 - 08.06.2022
The deadline for submitting applications is 16:00 on the last day of the application period.

Intended recipients

Who decides

Purpose and amount

• Art and culture projects in sparsely populated areas
• Art and culture projects that promote the inclusion and participation of those living in sparsely populated areas and that take into consideration local conditions and starting points

• Employing artists 
• Strengthening accessibility and participation for arts and culture services 
• Environmental and public art 
• Community art projects
• Developing artist-in-residence programmes 
• Developing art and culture events
• Developing cultural tourism
• Intangible cultural heritage sites
• Investments/projects that improve accessibility to art and culture

Decision-making criteria 

Quality of the project 

• Is the project plan of high quality and are its objectives interesting?
• What kinds of ideas and operating models does the project offer for developing sparsely populated areas?
• How realistic is the project in terms of its implementation objectives?
• Does the community pay wages and fees in accordance with fair remuneration practices?

Impact of the project

• Will the project be implemented, or is the focus of its activities, in a sparsely populated area?
• Does the project promote the inclusion of those living in sparsely populated areas, strengthen services and take into consideration local conditions and starting points?
• How does the project promote an active cultural life in the sparsely populated area?
• What kind of permanent impacts does the project seek to achieve?

Project financing

• How have the community’s finances been managed in previous years?
• How realistic is the project’s budget?
• Is the amount of the subsidy that has been applied for in relation to the scope of the project?
• What is the need for the subsidy in relation to the community’s financial situation?
• What other funding does the project have?

Additional terms and conditions

• Support awarded by other parties are taken into consideration when awarding subsidies.
• Recipients of subsidies must submit written clarification and a financial statement of how the subsidy was used. 

What to include with your application

• Mandatory: The community’s audited financial statements (signed) for the previous financial period (income statement and balance sheet).
• In addition, you may also include up to two attachments that are relevant to your application. The file names should describe the content. The maximum file size for each attachment is 4MB.

• If the application arrives after the application deadline. Applications must be received by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland by 4:00pm (16:00) on the last day of the application period.
• If the application is incomplete (if the required information has not been delivered to the Arts Promotion Centre Finland following a request for such information)
• If the applicant has not submitted written clarification of previously awarded subsidies before the given deadline.

How to apply 

Processing of applications and notification of decision 

Further information