Envisioning Uusimaa

The future is envisioned through three themes:

Environmentally Smart Uusimaa

Sustainable development, climate solutions and resource wise growth

This theme reflects the Regional Programme’s objective to make Helsinki-Uusimaa the environmentally smartest region in Europe. It brings together nature-positive development, ambitious climate goals, a carbon-negative circular economy and resilience to climate change as central elements of the region’s future development.

Happy Uusimaa

Wellbeing, inclusion and a meaningful everyday life

This theme links to the Regional Programme’s aim for Helsinki-Uusimaa to become Europe’s leading region in well-being. It highlights the importance of inclusion, equality, good public services, cultural opportunities and quality of life for all residents as key aspects of regional development.

Innovative Uusimaa

Competence, renewal and sustainable growth

This theme is rooted in the Regional Programme’s goal of making Helsinki-Uusimaa the most innovative region in Europe. It emphasises strong research, development and innovation (RDI) activity, cooperation between sectors, international competitiveness and the conditions that support renewal and long-term growth.

The themes will be explored in workshops led by experts.

Choose one of the three future themes: Environmentally smart Uusimaa, Happy Uusimaa, or Innovative Uusimaa.

Register and participate in your chosen theme’s virtual workshop in April 2026.

Develop your vision within your selected theme using the AI Vision Lab toolkit and submit it to the competition.

(In October 2025, a voluntary AI Vision Lab workshop was organised to co-develop the toolkit for future-oriented artistic work. Participation in that workshop was not required in order to enter the vision competition.)

A vision is an artistic view of the future. It can be a finished work, concept, plan, or documented research process. Your vision can be critical, utopian, speculative, or cautionary. The form is free: visual, interactive, narrative, or spatial. The most important thing is that your vision opens new perspectives on your chosen theme and sparks discussion about what Uusimaa could be like.

AI Vision Lab is a toolkit for creating future-oriented artistic visions, developed together with artists and experts. The tools and methods included in the toolkit are based on participants’ interests, experiences and goals, and are designed to support artistic thinking in a time of technological change.

In October 2025, a voluntary AI Vision Lab workshop was organised to define the direction and core content of the toolkit. During the workshop, participants explored different AI and digital approaches and discussed how such tools can be used to develop and articulate future visions.

The workshop was facilitated by Jukka Hautamäki (MFA), a Helsinki-based media artist working with AI, lens-based media, sound, light and electronics. His installations and generative works examine the dialogue between humans and AI and its impact on the creative process. His practice is research-oriented and process-based, combining artistic exploration with pedagogical and theoretical perspectives. His work has been exhibited widely in Finland and internationally.

The AI Vision Lab toolkit will be used in the theme-specific virtual workshops in early 2026, where participants develop their visions with expert support.

In April 2026, three theme-specific virtual workshops will be organized where you’ll work on your chosen theme with expert support. In the workshops, you’ll be able to delve deeper into your theme and develop your own vision using the AI Vision Lab toolkit.

Workshop dates:

Environmentally Smart Uusimaa
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 10:00 AM

Innovative Uusimaa
Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at 10:00 AM

Happy Uusimaa
Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 10:00 AM

In the workshops, you’ll receive support from both theme-related experts and in using AI. Each workshop provides space to think differently. What haven’t we noticed yet? What questions haven’t we asked?

AI should not substitute the artist. It should support the artist’s vision. In this project, you stay in control of your ideas, your aesthetic choices, and your creative intent. AI helps you explore directions faster, test variations, and visualise concepts that are still forming, but the decisions remain yours.

We’ve designed the workshops and toolkit so that you start from your own work and thinking, not from a blank prompt. AI is a material in your process, not a replacement for it. It can help you think and explore, but when it comes to making the work, your craft takes over. The skills you’ve honed over years, your eye, your technique, your sense of material and form, are what turn a promising direction into a finished piece.

Visions created in the workshops will participate in an international vision competition, with participating artists and cultural sector professionals from different EU countries.

Main prize: €2,000

All competition entries will be presented in late 2026 at the Envisioning Uusimaa virtual exhibition at virtual house IloNovi.

Competition entries will be evaluated by a multidisciplinary jury, including representatives from the arts, AI research, and Uusimaa development expert networks. The evaluation emphasizes artistic execution, depth of theme exploration, and the vision’s ability to spark discussion. Additionally, a public vote will be organized.

Art and culture help us look at the world from new angles. They open alternative realities, challenge familiar ways of thinking, and provide tools to process the uncertainty arising from change. That’s why envisioning Uusimaa’s future needs artists and creative professionals.