thisisFINLAND

What’s the deal with the overalls you see university students wearing in Finland?

They’re a trademark of student life at Finnish universities: Durable overalls in various bright colours, decorated with imaginative patches and badges, contribute to a sense of community.

Business & innovation Universities

At a university in northern Finland, international cooperation thrives

You never know who you’ll bump into at the Arctic Centre in the city of Rovaniemi. Each of the researchers and students has their own story of how they found their way to northern Finland.

Life & society National park

Natural attraction: Finland’s national parks draw people to popular peaks and hidden gems

The dozens of national parks spread across Finland receive about 3.5 million visitors annually, but the numbers are unevenly distributed. While the quieter parks are farther off the beaten track, that only increases their charm.

85.4%

of Finns live in urban areas

Source: UN World Urbanisation Prospects

Life & society Education

Teens in Finland learn life skills in home economics class

Mouthwatering aromas fill the air as a class of seventh-graders dig into today’s lesson: cooking a complete meal. (This article includes a couple of their dessert recipes.)

Arts & culture Dance

Dance House Helsinki provides an inspiring haven for performers and audiences

Once just a dream, Finland’s new dance centre, Dance House Helsinki, has lived up to its promise since opening in February 2022. The long-awaited venue brings the dance community together, and also features contemporary circus and other performing arts.

Business & innovation Business

Filming in photogenic Finland

Finland offers a stunning stage for movies, documentaries and series, no matter what kind of setting is required – from cityscapes to wilderness, and from lakes to archipelagos. In recent movies, Finnish cities have even played the roles of Paris and Seattle.

Business & innovation Webpick

Finnish researcher looks for climate answers in cold water

When you’re an academic researcher and assistant professor in water engineering at Finland’s Aalto University, as Eliisa Lotsari is, it helps to have a passion for cold water.

Arts & culture Film

Kaurismäki in Karkkila: How Finland’s most famous film director and a writer started a small-town cinema

One year when the acclaimed film director Aki Kaurismäki made his annual return to Finland from his winter home in Portugal, he wound up creating a cinema in a disused industrial building.

2008

The first time international startup event Slush was held

things you should and shouldn’t know