Current affairs

Technology Academy Finland is now requesting nominees for the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize. Awarded every second year, the Prize is given to a technological innovation which significantly improves the quality of human life and supports sustainable development. Nominations will be accepted until 31 July 2011.

The newest issue of Focus on the Economy and Technology, a magazine created for key audiences in Finland’s major export markets, presents the country’s strong points to the world in articles about water expertise, education, energy, design and more. The same central themes were emphasised in Finland’s country brand report in November.

The programme for the Finnish Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2011 has three main areas of focus. The first is to cope with and counteract climate change. The second priority is to continue with and develop concrete globalization projects and to invest in Nordic research excellence. Thirdly, Finland will aim to encourage greater grassroots participation among all citizens and young people in particular.

“A good reputation in a globalising world is an excellent goal as such, but what is far more important is how Finns view their own country and in which direction they want it to go in the future. This year is an election year, which further improves our chances of influencing this”, President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen said in her New Year’s Speech on Saturday 1, December 2011.

Finnish polytechnics provide a large selection of Bachelor's degree programmes conducted in English. Applying to programmes conducted in English at polytechnics/UAS takes place through a system of online joint application at www.admissions.fi

The Embassy of Finland is closed on January 6, 2011 due to a national holiday (Epiphany) both in Finland and Croatia.

In an effort to bring joy and laughter to children at this special time of the year, the Embassy of Finland sponsored a ride on the Christmas tram for 100 children from the Slava Raskaj Center and Dom za djecu Zagreb. The children had an opportunity to meet the oldest Finn, the Ambassador of Christmas - Santa Claus!

Young Finns were again among the best performers in the assessment of reading, mathematical and scientific literacy in PISA 2009.

The Embassy of Finland in Zagreb wil be closed on Friday, December 3 and on Monday, December 6, 2010 due to the indipendence day of Finland.

According to Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, Finland has good and solid relations with Russia. In his speech given in the event celebrating the 90 years of Finnish-Russian diplomatic relations the Minister said we are on our way towards deeper bilateral networking. Stubb remarked that Finnish-Russian relations need not be