Current affairs

Veera Heinonen, Press Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in London, has been announced as the new Director of Communications at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. She will be starting in her new position in October. Veera is a seasoned media professional with a proven international track record. Educated at the English School, Vienna, she says she has been exposed to British influences from very early on.

Tom Finn has been chosen to represent Britain in the Foreign Correspondents’ Programme (FCP) organised by Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs. While in Finland, he hopes to learn more about the role of the Finnish welfare state – including the world renowned education system.

Finnish Estonian writer Sofi Oksanen talks with us about her bestselling novel Purge. Already a literary phenomenon at 33, Oksanen has won every major literary award in Finland and her books have been translated into 28 languages. The Purge is now being published in the UK on July 15 by Atlantic Books.

New universal service obligations for telecom operators will take effect in Finland in the beginning of July. This means that a broadband access will be included in basic communications services like telephone or postal services.

Her name is Mari Kiviniemi and she will head the government of Finland for the next ten months. She received a convincing mandate from her Centre Party, which she also leads as chairperson. Despite Finland’s forthcoming elections in April 2011, major hiccups in government policy are not anticipated.

Nordic Food Glossary, an iPhone app that is also accessible via the internet, brings you the names of everything edible in English and seven languages spoken in the Nordic countries.

The future of Helsinki has sailed to London’s Southbank. Helsinki Horizon 2030, an exhibition built inside a sea container, presents the major changes Helsinki is facing in the coming decades as three former harbour areas will be developed into three new districts. To see how Helsinki responds to the theme of this year's LFA – the Welcoming City – stop by the exhibition at Oxo Tower Courtyard, open daily from 19 June to 4 July.

The popular Helsinki Vintage event is being held again on September 19 in the Merikaapelihalli at Helsinki’s Cable Factory. One of Northern Europe’s most important vintage events is now going global, with sellers not only from Finland, but also from Sweden, Estonia, and possibly even further afield.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has appointed Jouni Mölsä to the post of Press Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in London and Mikko Koivumaa to the post of Press Counsellor at the Embassy of Finland in Tokyo.

World Design Capital Helsinki 2012, a joint project by Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen, Lahti and other partners, extends an open invitation to citizens, companies and other organizations, clubs, universities and other educational institutions, city districts, and all other interested parties: join the organizers to brainstorm, discuss and plan what the year 2012 as World Design Capital can mean and be for everybody.