Current affairs

Finland’s indigenous Sámi celebrate the unique new Sajos cultural and political centre (see Northern Lights video).

Irja Askola, bishop of Helsinki, opens the Church’s doors to dialogue with everyone in the surrounding community.

Who are the Northern Governors? How’s their debut album? And what does a Finnish band have to do with Nigeria?

Foreign Correspondents' Programme is a media training programme organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. It provides young journalists from different countries an opportunity to learn more about Finland, Finnish society and the Finnish way of life as well as the means to enhance their professional skills. This year the FCP will be an alumni meeting for former participants.

The participants have now been chosen for the Millennium Youth Camp, which will be held in the Helsinki metropolitan area in June. The camp has the twin goals of raising interest among young people in the natural sciences, mathematics and technology and of highlighting the opportunities for study at Finnish universities.

In Helsinki’s year as World Design Capital 2012, students and senior citizens tackle the issues of an aging population.

Helsinki’s wooden Chapel of Silence, designed to promote wellbeing, attracts attention in the 2012 World Design Capital.

The Embassy of Finland, Tokyo was granted Timanttiteko award for its rapid action during the crisis following the earthquake in Japan. The justifications for the award mention particularly the embassy’s innovative use of social media for crisis communication and reaching the hundreds of Finns who were in the emergency areas.

Innovative programs such as Startup Sauna and New Factory groom startups for competition on the global market.

Startups Microtask and M-Files use advances in technology to move innovative theories from classrooms to boardrooms.