Current affairs

Q&A is the 2017 theme for the annual Helsinki Design Week, so we ask some Finns who live and breathe design what makes it so fun.

Sirkka Hämäläinen, the first woman elected as the Governor of the Bank of Finland, emphasizes the importance of extensive, high quality common knowledge in working life success.

Along with “sisu” (the Finnish combination of guts and perseverance), “sauna” is one of the words most closely connected with the essence of Finnishness. The author of a sauna cookbook – yes, of course there’s a sauna cookbook – shares her tips.

At Aalto University in Helsinki, students have built two nanosatellites, both of which were recently launched into space. In the near future, numerous nanosatellites will provide a wealth of new information relevant to the environment, transport and business, including critical challenges such as climate change.

Leena Peltonen-Palotie was considered one of the world's leading molecular geneticists. She contributed to the identification of 15 genes for Finnish heritage diseases, including arterial hypertension, schizophrenia, lactose intolerance, arthrosis and multiple sclerosis.

Scandinavia House in New York is the starting point for a show of four Finnish painters, all of them women, whose careers coincided with cultural and political transformations. The paintings later continue to Stockholm before returning to Helsinki as part of a larger exhibition.

Women are allowed to serve voluntarily in Finnish army. Since 1995 and during Elisabeth Rehn's term as a first woman Defence Minister of Finland, a law on voluntary female enlistment was enacted.

Quick fashion leads to quick consumption: Timo Rissanen, a professor at Parsons School of Design in New York, is convinced that fashion houses can create clothing while also conserving resources and preserving nature.

"Saving the mother, you save the child" said Miina Sillanpää who dedicated her life to campaigning for a wide range of social issues.

Former Finnish president Mauno Koivisto passed away at Meilahti hospital in Helsinki on 12 May 2017 at 21.15. Mauno Koivisto was President of the Republic of Finland for 12 years, from 1982 to 1994. Members of the public and organisations can present their condolences in the online book of condolence for President Koivisto.