Health - thisisFINLAND

New kind of election in Finland selects decision-makers for wellbeing services

January 23, 2022 is election day for a completely new category of election, anticipating the reform of social and health services that takes effect on January 1, 2023. Foreign residents of Finland have the right to vote and to run as candidates.

Arts & culture Film

Finnish film from East Africa savours international acclaim

Somali Finnish film director Khadar Ayderus Ahmed describes the tribulations and triumphs of creating a movie about a haunting idea that simply wouldn’t leave him alone. It’s the first entry from Somalia for Best International Film Feature at the Oscars.

Business & innovation Technology

Inventors of next-generation DNA sequencing receive Millennium Technology Prize in Helsinki

Technology Academy Finland awards one million euros to two scientists who developed a faster, cheaper way to sequence DNA – a system that led to huge implications for genomics, medicine and biology. They were just looking for “something exciting to explore,” they say.

Cleanest air in Europe

Source: Environmental Performance Index

Life & society Finnishness

In a year marked by Covid-19, World Happiness Report emphasises trust and points to Finland

In 2021, Finland tops the annual World Happiness Report for the fourth year in a row, with the other Nordic countries all in the top ten. We take a look at how the report works, and see what the Finnish word “onni” might have to do with Finland’s results.

Life & society Animals

Canines contribute to Covid-19 testing at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport

Making an unusual coronavirus test available to passengers at the airport could provide a needed boost to confidence in international travel.

Life & society Festivals

Finnish advice: Keep calm and Vappu on, safely

In the extraordinary circumstances of 2020, Finland’s wild, carnival-calibre celebration Vappu (known as May Day, Labour Day or Walpurgis in English) calls for unusual amounts of creativity so that people can get together while still staying apart. Vappu – this time it’s virtual.

Life & society Health

Kids ask the Finnish government questions in corona info session

For the first time ever, a Finnish prime minister held a press conference in which the journalists asking the questions were schoolchildren. Sanna Marin and her colleagues addressed the nation’s kids directly.

Life & society Education

As Finnish teachers move classes online, family routines change

Families in Finland and all over the world are facing new challenges. Many parents now have more experience of working from home, and many children and educators are now well acquainted with distance learning. They are wondering if they will need to use those new routines in the future.