Current affairs

London’s Spitalfields Traders Market is abuzz with activity for the Alternative Fashion Week. Leggy models wearing imaginative clothes by young designers are everywhere. One of the designers taking part in the event is Finnish Teija Vartiainen, 24, with her collection

The Design Factory cranks out ideas, projects and products, as its name implies – but it's nothing like an assembly line. This is the innovative new creativity hub where Finnish researchers, students and businesses are producing and testing new ideas. It is a space that encourages the collaborative teams to free their imagination and focus on user needs and sustainability.

The Moomins and the Midsummer Madness was an audience favourite at the 2008 London Children's Film Festival. The classic Finnish animated family are back and ready to embark on some magical adventures at the Barbican on 25th of April. There will also be a special workshop before the film.

New approaches are needed to overcome challenges facing the environment worldwide. The field of chemistry plays a significant role in finding and contributing to sustainable solutions for environmental problems and consumer concerns. This is why the Helsinki Chemicals Forum is inviting academic researchers, politicians, non-governmental bodies, human interest groups and industry to join an open dialogue with true impact.

Children of Bodom's Alexi Laiho has been elected

The Finnish government’s stimulus package includes broadband and movies. Will it have a large enough impact to make a difference? Most Finns find it hard to forget the harsh recession of the 1990s and remember well the real cost to the nation of high unemployment. So this time around, when it came to agreeing measures to fight the recession and unemployment, political consensus was found with little difficulty.

International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8 around the world and in Finland it is marked with special pride. Gender equality is and has been one of the pillars upon which the Finnish welfare society is built. In 1906 Finland's national assembly became the first parliament in the world to adopt full gender equality. Today, the issue is an integral part of government policies and programmes.

Creative Economy and Beyond (CEB) is an international congress carried out by University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finland. The CEB conference examines the role of creative industries in the economy. At the moment CEB is looking for lecturers and papers to be presented at this year's conference to be held on the 9th and 10th of September at the Cable Factory cultural centre, Helsinki.

Are you interested in the work of a foreign correspondent? Newly graduated journalists or last year students of journalism from selected countries are invited to apply for scholarships to participate in the Foreign Correspondents' Programme in Finland in August 2009.

Child welfare has been the topic of lively public discussion in Britain of late in response to the publication of the report A Good Childhood. The report concludes that