Oulu Löyly
Oulu Löyly
[edit]✱ Pronounced /ˈou̯lu ˈløy̯ly/ – or you can combine the English "Ouh-loo lo-ewl-lew" and make it smooth and snappy!
AvoinGLAM and partners are hosting an open culture think & do fest in Oulu, Finland in 8–10 June 2026 as part of the Oulu2026 – European Capital of Culture program. We invite advocates of open culture, policy makers, technologists and creative thinkers from near and far to address Heritage at Risk. The event takes place in the newly renovated Oulu Central Library Saari and hosts a day-long open culture fair (open for the public) and a 2-day think & do workshop.
Apply to join Oulu Löyly!
8–10 June, 2026, Central Library Saari, Oulu, Finland
Come to Oulu to craft actionable digital survival strategies for under-resourced community archives, endangered languages or heritage under threat in the digital era, together with other dedicated thinkers and doers.
Apply to join! We will review the applications weekly on a rolling basis.
The registration closes on 31 May after which it will be possible to register to follow online streams.
Heritage at Risk
Amidst economic distress, climate catastrophe, conflict and oblivion, small and under-resourced communities struggle to safeguard and keep alive their heritage. Oulu Löyly invites you to explore digital strategies for vulnerable cultural heritage together with a mix of experts from these perspectives.
Culture is everyone’s right – Culture as a global public good.
Whose heritage, whose conditions? – Sovereign governance of open digital heritage.
Equipping the cultural commons – Accessible platforms and interoperable heritage.
Reasons to join
By joining Oulu Löyly, you will:
Collaborate with professionals and stakeholders from Northern Europe and beyond in crafting digital survival strategies for heritage at risk.
Draft concrete action plans and recommendations to guide policies and practice.
Network and learn from others’ experiences and insights, gaining knowledge you can apply in your own work or community.
Open Culture Fair
Talks
Keynote talks
- Brigitte Vézina
- Matti Hakamäki
Panel discussion
Think & do
Streamed events
Podcast
Oulu Sauna Festival
We are inviting
- Wikimedians and open knowledge advocates working on GLAM initiatives, campaigns, and community heritage
- Custodians and activists of digital community heritage and language revitalization
- Cultural heritage professionals wanting to learn and adopt equitable practices for community heritage
- Developers and cultural heritage projects using Wikimedia projects
- Experts on European Cultural Heritage Cloud & related initiatives
- Digital Humanities projects dealing with linked open data for cultural heritage
- Open source developers and technologists exploring digital sovereignty
- Legal experts focusing on open sharing
- Educators, researchers and activists in areas intersecting culture, digital, and sustainability
- Policy makers in culture and digital society
- Professionals from different fields involved in preparedness activities for culture
- NGO and IGO representatives in the fields of culture and digital society
- Humanitarian workers and volunteers
- Journalists
- Futurists
Oulu Löyly is organized by AvoinGLAM, Wikimedia Finland, Wikimedia Eesti and Open Knowledge Finland in partnership with Wikimedia Sverige and Wikitongues and supported by Wikimedia Foundation and Nordic Council of Ministers.