The performance of the male choir Huutajat and flamenco dance master Israel Galván at AaltoSiilo’s Screaming Duende hybrid event could be experienced both on-site in Meri-Toppila, Oulu, and via a live stream. Photo: Juuso Haarala
Oulu2026 has launched the Hybrid Event Producer 2026 project in cooperation with Oulu University of Applied Sciences (OUAS). The ESF+-funded project will develop and pilot more interesting digital concepts for the event industry on how live events can be experienced in an immersive and experiential way also from home sofas and mobile phones.
For the audience live streams are probably the most familiar digital way of transmitting culture. Especially during the covid-19 pandemic streams gave artists and creators the opportunity to offer experiences online when events and gatherings were not allowed.
However, the need to develop the digitalisation of culture has not disappeared; digitalisation can be used for example to improve the accessibility of culture in sparsely populated areas. The goal of Oulu2026 is that the majority of the 2026 cultural programme can be experienced digitally and remotely.
“The Oulu2026 area consisting of 40 municipalities is geographically extensive stretching from one national border to another, and the programme for the European Capital of Culture year is organised throughout the year. Digitalisation can be used to make it possible to experience cultural content in an accessible way even when arriving at an event is not possible for example due to long distances or health reasons,” says Mirko Siikaluoma, project coordinator of Hybrid Event Producer 2026.
Hybrid productions improve equal access to culture and enable the transmission of culture for example to nursing homes and assisted living units. The project also pays attention to the interaction of remote participants in hybrid events and sustainable development, as the opportunity to experience culture remotely can reduce carbon dioxide emissions caused by travel.
OUAS starts a study module of hybrid event production as a part of project
Utilising digitalisation in the transmission of culture requires new kinds of expertise from producers. The aim of the Hybrid Producer 2026 project is to update the competence of professionals working as producers to meet today’s requirements and to increase the number of producers in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. To achieve this goal, Oulu University of Applied Sciences will start a study module consisting of themes related to the production of hybrid events.
Hybrid producer studies are aimed especially at people working as producers, people trained in the profession of producer, and unemployed who are interested or have experience of working as a producer. Students participating in the studies can also participate in Oulu2026 with an internship and/or a work trial.
Further information: Project coordinator Mirko Siikaluoma, mirko.siikaluoma@oulu2026.eu, tel. 040 183 3188
Implemented by: Oulu Culture Foundation, Oulu University of Applied Sciences
Project implementation period: 1.4.2023–30.9.2025
