About half a million Finns have adult-onset (type 2) diabetes. Their risk of getting heart and blood vessel disorders is much higher than that of other people.
– Lifestyle changes can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. This is known from very many studies from around the world, and there’s no need to investigate that any more, says Ursula Schwab, professor of nutrition therapy at the University of Eastern Finland, with a laugh.
– But these studies have not been able to observe the effect of hereditary factors. So do genes affect who benefits from lifestyle changes and who doesn’t?
This is what Schwab and her colleagues are investigating with the help of men from the city of Kuopio.
The longitudinal study Metabolic Syndrome in Men (METSIM), led by Professor Markku Laakso, has used interviews and measurements to follow more than 10,000 men randomly chosen from the Kuopio population register. The men were chosen from 2005 to 2010 when they were 45 to 73 years old.
Schwab and her colleagues chose 635 men from this cohort. Half of them have a high and half have a low genetic susceptibility to get type 2 diabetes.
– Today more than one hundred gene variants are known that cause susceptibility to type 2 diabetes, but when we chose the men in 2016, only 76 were known, so we created the groups based on these.
At first, there were group meetings for the men. Later, tips for exercising and health-promoting diets, such as high-fibre products and recommended dairy products, were offered more online.
– Previous comparable studies have focused on personal guidance. We wanted to now try what kind of effectiveness can be achieved with group and online guidance organised using less resources.
“Health-promoting lifestyles have also helped those whose genes cause a higher risk of getting lifestyle diseases. So here too, we’re expecting that lifestyle changes will help both groups similarly.”
What results does Schwab expect to get?
– According to previous studies, health-promoting lifestyles have also helped those whose genes cause a higher risk of getting lifestyle diseases. So here too, we’re expecting that lifestyle changes will help both groups similarly, says Schwab.
– But one can’t be sure before the results have been analysed. So we’ll wait patiently for what the results tell us.
***
In another, similar study, nutrition scientists at the University of Eastern Finland are investigating whether genetic susceptibility cause differences in how switching to recommended dietary fats affects the storage of fat in the liver.
One hundred men of whom half have the PNPLA3 gene variant that makes them susceptible to fatty liver disease were selected from the above-mentioned METSIM database. The PNPLA3 gene regulates fat storage.
The men were instructed to use soft vegetable fats instead of hard animal fats in their diets, and the study monitors whether there is a difference in the degree of fat storage in the liver depending on which variant of the PNPLA3 gene the men have.
– The PNPLA3 gene variant that predisposes to fatty liver disease is very treacherous since it simultaneously protects against type 2 diabetes. Often people with this variant don’t have high blood sugar or cholesterol levels, but their liver can be fatty. If fatty liver disease has progressed enough, it’s possible that nothing can be done anymore, Schwab explains.
Genetic studies are connected to the megatrend of personalised medicine in a broader sense. When genetic understanding increases, those in risk groups can get more personal advice.
In addition to working as a researcher, Schwab takes care of patients in the Kuopio University Hospital.
– Patients who have problems with blood fat levels often ask whether they can eat eggs. If I only knew whether they have a certain gene variant, I could answer more precisely than now. People who have this gene variant absorb dietary cholesterol well, so they are recommended to not eat more than three eggs per week. But others can eat eggs more freely, Schwab explains.
– Generally speaking, people could be more motivated to eat health-promoting nutrition if general recommendations were customised into personal recommendations that take into account their specific characteristics.
Professor of nutrition therapy Ursula Schwab and her research team at the University of Eastern Finland received 250,000 euros for research on the connection between genes and lifestyles in the prevention of lifestyle diseases.
Wheat, barley and rye contain a protein called gluten. In about two percent of the population, it causes an inflammatory reaction that damages the lining of the small intestine, in other words celiac disease.
Gluten is however also avoided by many people who don’t have celiac disease. Many feel their lives are healthier without wheat, barley and rye – and the trend has reached Finland too.
– People can have cereal (grain) allergies and also non-celiac gluten sensitivity, but most of the hype about grain-free food is not based on research results, says Katri Kaukinen, professor of internal medicine and director of Tampere University’s Celiac Disease Research Center.
– Cereals in the sense of grains have fibre, vitamins, and minerals. They also provide an efficient way of producing large amounts of energy for humankind. In fact, one might ask whether avoiding cereals hurts people more than it helps.
Extensive epidemiological data is available in Finland that can be used to find an answer to this question, and the Celiac Disease Research Center has started to do this with Kaukinen at the helm.
A 2000‒2011 longitudinal study of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare extensively followed the development of the health of adults. About 4,000 people were interviewed about their eating habits, and they gave blood and urine samples. Some of their genes were also studied.
The data enables differentiating celiacs from people who avoid gluten for other reasons. The data also shows whether gluten avoidance has benefited them.
– I’m quite critical, but we’ll soon get results and see what’s true about gluten avoidance, Kaukinen promises.
The Tampere celiac researchers are also trying to find better diagnostic methods of identifying family members of celiacs who need special diets.
– There are good celiac disease tests, but they don’t identify all celiacs, especially in the early stage.
Improved tests could for example identify biomarkers in blood, urine, and excrement. A risk calculator that takes into consideration many different factors could also be useful.
There is also plenty left to research on treatments. It was thought that the inflammatory reaction of the intestinal lining would eventually heal when a celiac stops eating cereals.
It has however been recently observed that the intestinal lining does not heal completely. Its damages may partly be inborn anomalies that are part of celiac disease. In that case, the nutrient absorption of celiacs is permanently disturbed, and they may need medication or dietary supplements for the rest of their lives.
Research on permanent damages of intestinal lining (villi) at Tampere University is under the direction of Kati Juuti-Uusitalo, university lecturer in biotechnology.
Valeriia Dotsenko (left) and Keijo Viiri.
And celiac medication is being studied at Tampere University’s Celiac Disease Research Center by a research group led by Keijo Viiri, associate professor in molecular biology. His research group is collaborating with a German pharmaceutical company and studying a drug the Germans developed that prevents the activity of the small intestine’s TG2 transglutaminase enzyme.
– The gluten component gliadin is what sets off inflammation in celiacs. TG2 is a normal protein in the human small intestine that modifies gliadin such that its glutamines turn into glutamate. Celiacs get an inflammatory reaction from gliadin that changes in this way. The hypothesis to be tested is that the inflammatory reaction does not come when the TG2’s activity is inhibited, Viiri explains.
The drug has worked well in preliminary clinical trials and seems to prevent the damages caused by gluten.
Viiri’s research group has however observed that microscopic i.e. histomorphometric analysis does not always tell all about an intestine’s ability to function. What is required is measurement of gene activities, in other words so-called molecular histomorphometry.
– A celiac’s intestine may look normal, but its surface may be so damaged at the molecular level that dietary minerals, for example, are not absorbed properly.
Viiri’s research team is studying the gene activity of the patients and control group members in the data collected by the pharmaceutical company. At the same time, they are studying whether the drug’s healing effect can be observed in the form of possibly higher nutrient, mineral, and vitamin levels in the bloodstream.
The goal is to find out if the pharmaceutical company’s TG2 inhibitors work as well at the molecular level as they do at the microscopic level.
If the drug works well at the molecular level, does that mean celiacs can begin to eat wheat, barley, rye, and oats?
– I’m a researcher, not a doctor, so I won’t venture to give an opinion on that. But there’s always a small amount of gluten even in a gluten-free diet, and the most sensitive celiacs get symptoms from this so-called residual gluten, Viiri points out.
– It’s hard to avoid gluten on trips abroad too. So continuous medication could make life easier for celiacs even if they don’t quit their diet.
Edit 8.9.2022: removed oats from the list of crops containing gluten.
Professor Katri Kaukinen and Associate Professor Kati Juuti-Uusitalo received a grant of €250,000 in 2022 for research on the positive and negative health effects of dietary gluten.
Associate Professor Keijo Viiri and his working group received a grant of €200,000 for research on celiac disease treatment and on molecular-level damage caused by dietary gluten.
Latest research expertise contributes to the twin transition in industry
– This round of applications highlighted twin transition projects. Companies are interested in developing technologies that make more efficient and environmentally friendly use of resources. With the help of postdocs, companies can utilize the latest information to reduce their carbon footprint, says the PoDoCo program leader Dr. Seppo Tikkanen from DIMECC Ltd.
Altogether 201 postdocs have used their expertise to renewal of companies since the beginning of the PoDoCo program in 2015. The program has received 397 applications for cooperation projects. Of the fully implemented PoDoCo projects, 90 percent have led to the employment of PhD in the partner company.
Four grants to postdocs of LUT University
Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT was strongly represented in both the applications and the grants awarded. The companies will be able to utilize the expertise of LUT University’s electrical engineering postdocs in four funded PoDoCo projects.
Dmitry Egorov, PhD from the University of Lappeenranta, focuses on the development of electric motors with Danfoss Editron in his PoDoCo collaboration. As power densities increase, more knowledge is needed about the interrelationships between electromagnetism and thermal and structural design.
– The PoDoCo program with Danfoss Editron Oy represents a unique opportunity for me to get intensive training and industry-related experience in comprehensive design of electromechanical conversion systems, which otherwise I would not be able to grasp within my current affiliation or time equivalent to the duration of the program, says Dmitry Egorov.
Recovering rare-earth elements
In his PoDoCo project, Pasi Salonen, a recent PhD from the University of Turku, is developing a method for the treatment and recovery of rare earth elements (REE), especially from electronic scrap and industrial by-products. Rare-earth elements are used in many new solutions to combat climate change, such as wind farms and electric cars, so the demand has increased rapidly.
In the project promoting circular economy, Salonen, together with Weeefiner Ltd in Jyväskylä, is developing 4D-printed filters for capturing metals, which means 3D-printed filters that have been chemically functionalized.
– I have always been interested in the academic research world as well as industry, and PoDoCo combines both. The PoDoCo project involving 4D REE scavengers done in collaboration with Weeefiner Ltd is interesting and meaningful and allows me to utilize the knowledge obtained in my PhD in practice. The PoDoCo program makes academic and industrial careers simultaneously possible, says Pasi Salonen.
PoDoCo program:
The next PoDoCo grant application round takes place March 1 – April 15, 2022.
There are no limitations regarding the branch of science or branch of industry.
Further information:
PoDoCo-ohjelman vetäjä, Seppo Tikkanen,
DIMECC Oy, seppo.tikkanen(at)dimecc.com, puh. 040 840 2780
Projects supported by SKR:
Applicant
Company
Discipline
Grant (€)
Kumari Kajal
Finnadvance Oy
Chemistry and Mathematics – Environmental sciences
30 000
Panchal Bhaveshkumar
Valio Ltd.
Agricultural sciences – Other agricultural sciences
At the moment we are approaching researchers who work with or would like to work with environmental DNA or ancient DNA. Our aim is to evaluate the state of the art in the relevant scientific fields and to investigate their most pressing needs. The survey may be filled by all scholars linked with Finland and working in Finnish or foreign institutions, irrespective of their career level.
Art for Everyone grants available for long-term projects
Grant previously named ‘Art for Institutions’ is now ‘Art for everyone‘. The purpose of this form of funding is to increase the opportunities of people in need of care or support to experience high-quality art and in this manner promote cultural equality. Possible locales for implementing this kind of project include for example prisons, reception centres, child welfare institutions and sheltered homes.
The minimum sum that can be applied for is EUR 10,000 in the January round. The purpose of the grant is that the projects will be long-termed and have therefore a real influence on the target group.
The Uusimaa Fund will award grants every two years in the future
The Uusimaa Fund will award a total of 1,260,000 euros in the January 2022 round of applications. As the competition for grants is especially tough in the Uusimaa area, the Administrative Council of the Uusimaa Fund has decided that in the future grants will be awarded every two years. Therefore, the next round after 2022 is in January 2024.
The Fund awards grants for local culture work and projects, for artistic work, art projects, art events and cultural occasions of representatives from all fields of art, for cultural heritage, and for local culture.
Special grants of the regional funds
The regional funds award grants for special purposes every year. This year the South Ostrobothnia fund will award a new Speak Finnish Boldly! grant. The grant is awarded for scientists or artists to study Finnish language. The grant sum is EUR 3,000 and it is applied for as its own expenditure grant or as a part of a working grant with the same application.
South Savo fund will award a maximum of EUR 100,000 grant for projects concerning forestry. The applications may deal with forestry from different points of view, for example forest ecology, climate change, forest or wood technology.
The North Savo and the North Karelia funds will altogether award a maximum of 100,000 euro grant to a high-quality, multidisciplinary undertaking that includes parties from both regions. In the 2022 application round, the grant is aimed at human and social sciences.
University compensations
Following discussions with Universities Finland, UNIFI, (university council of rectors), the Cultural Foundation has from March 1 2022 terminated the contracts they entered into with the universities in 2014, on the basis of which, grant researchers have been able to pay compensation for their workspace and other basic resources to conduct research. Next spring, the university compensation is no longer meant to be paid from the Cultural Foundation grants. The aim is to still have the universities welcome grant recipients and offer them equal resources to conduct quality research.
“In this project archaeology meets contemporary glass art and advanced photonics,” says Professor Laeticia Petit (on the right) and Glass Artist Ella Varvio. Photo: Jonne Renvall / Tampere University
Glazing means a thin layer of glass decorating the surface of the pottery. Specific glazes were chosen for this project based on their color and texture which are due to the presence of crystals and metallic particles. Especial interest is in tiny gas bubbles inside the glaze, the interior of bubbles being covered with an exceedingly fine translucent nano-crystalline film.
The samples were provided to the Tampere University for research by Æli Barjesteh, the Director of ASET Stiftung Ltd. The composition of glazes has been analyzed to identify the elements in the glazes and also to evidence the presence of bubbles and crystals. This analysis not only provides information of ancient Chinese glazes but opens up the opportunity to design new materials for both photonics and contemporary glass art based on the composition of the glazes.
The research conducted by Professor Laeticia Petit at Tampere University as part of the PhotonArt project has for objective to develop glasses with similar elements and textures than those found in ancient Chinese glazes. The new glasses are designed with properties suitable for photonics applications, which is the main research activity of Professor Petit and of the research performed during the first year of the project by Reynald Ponte. The findings can be also applied in art as the glazes have beautiful reflectance and impressive colors. Glass artist Ella Varvio is exploring these colors in her blown glass artworks.
The research by Reynald Ponte has investigated the connection between the color of the glaze and their composition. Different advanced scanning methods like scanning electron microscope, X-ray fluorescence and Raman mapping were used to evidence the presence of bubbles and to identify the elements present in the glazes. For Petit, this first step of PhotonArt project has allowed the team to advance the fundamental understanding of glass structures and optical property relationships.
The new set of materials and colors reveal huge potential.
The findings that will result into applications in modern photonics are applicable also in art, but from a different perspective: color expression, visual language and different visual textures. Photo: Jonne Renvall / Tampere University
Based on the composition analysis, it is possible to create new glass recipes for artistic use and in this project, various glasses have been prepared with similar colors to those of the Chinese glazes. Ella Varvio’s art combines blown glass with engravings and illustrations. For Varvio, the new set of materials and colors reveal huge potential. She considers a privilege to get tailored colors to work with; melting the glasses, blowing and sculpting them, grinding and engraving will reveal how the glasses suit for small studio use.
Next step in the project is to work on the development of novel active optical glasses which contain also metallic nanoparticles as in the Chinese glazes. Understanding the formation of metallic nanoparticles in glasses with various compositions will have a significant impact on the photonics community as this work will lead to the development of new glasses with enhanced spectroscopic performance, useful for optical device applications for example. This will also impact other science related communities, for example metallic nanoparticles in bioactive glass could be used as new biomedical devices.
– This PhotonArt project allows us to also promote the research conducted at Tampere University on Glass Science which is of great importance especially since United Nations approved 2022 as the International Year of Glass. Indeed, although glass supports many vital technologies and facilitates sustainability and a green world, glass material yet often goes unnoticed, Petit says.
In 2020 the Pirkanmaa Regional Fund awarded a grant to Professor Laeticia Petit and her working group. The grant was awarded for a multidisciplinary three year Art-Science project aiming to design unique contemporary glass art master pieces and photonics materials inspired by ancient and historic Chinese glazes.
In every city there are underdeveloped, in-between areas that form boundaries or edgeswithin the urban built environment. These areas are called interstitial spaces and they differ in scale. A logistics plot next to an apartment building, a space underneath a bridge, a highway, or an area alongside a ring road is considered interstitial, but even a whole city or a community can be interstitial.
These in-between areas are often ignored, yet they are an integral part of the on-going and rapid transformation of the built environment that is reshaping our cities, says Alia’a Amr, currently a postdoctoral researcher at Tampere University.
– These interstitial, partitioning spaces are defined as empty, underdeveloped, under-utilised. They increase separation and segregation but they have the potential to be contributors to the urban fabric. The potential of interstitial areas in general depends on the way spatial transition is facilitated and processed.How these areas emerge and transform is my area of interest, she says.
We shape our cities, then they shape us
Cities are defined by the built environment but also by people, culture, heritage, and the interactions between them. You don’t have to have a degree in architecture or spatial planning to participate in city development or placemaking.
– The concept of spatial transition is complex and involves inseparable social, cultural, economic, political, environmental, and spatialaspects. We need new combinations of hybrid tools, data, and models to steer the process of spatial transition, especially in the most vulnerable areas such as the interstitial ones, Amr says.
In her master’s thesis Amr discussed the spatial transition of urban peripheries, and in her PhD she looked at the urban transition and interstitiality of ring roads and areas alongside themin Oslo, Greater Helsinki, Greater Amman, and Kuwait City.
Cities are defined by people, culture, heritage, and the interaction in between.
To deepen her knowledge, Amr will be conducting new, postdoctoral research at the School of Natural and Built Environment at the Queen’s University of Belfast in Northern Ireland, funded by the foundations’ Post Doc Pool.
International collaboration benefits all parties
Amr is interested in the city of Belfast because it provides a unique and unexplored context for her research topic. Sheis especially intrigued by the areas around certain infrastructures such asthe peace walls, which were created during and after the 30-year long conflict in Northern Ireland to separate the Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods.
– Besides providing spatial analysis, her research will include an assessment of the social and environmental aspects of these spaces. The outcomes of this project can be benefitted from not only in Belfast, but also in different urban contexts, she says.
While Amr believes that being part of the interdisciplinary and international research community will be a significant step in her academic career, she also thinks that it will provide new opportunities for close collaboration between the two universities in Tampere and Belfast.
– We are a global research community that encourages open-access publishing, and this is an opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience. These collaborations are key enablers of high-quality science and outputs.I’m sure that all parties will benefit, Amr says.
Postdoctoral researcher Alia’a Amr was awarded funding from the Foundations’ Post Doc Pool. She will be analysing interstitiality at the Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Future Challenges in the Nordics is a seven-year research programme that stimulates research within humanities and social sciences in the Nordics. The programme focuses on the large societal challenges of the 21st century and how those challenges are understood and handled within the Nordic societies. During the spring, the programme received 449 applications for funding and now the final selection of 11 applications has been made.
Tom Moring, the chairman of the programme’s steering group.
The research programme emphasises multidisciplinarity and cooperation across national borders in the Nordics. Researchers from Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark will participate in the 11 selected projects, and around 30 research disciplines will be represented. Tom Moring, the chairman of the programme’s steering group, is very satisfied with the projects that are financed.
– The chosen projects are multidisciplinary and they combine social sciences and humanities in a new way. They also have a clear relevance for society and represent a wide range of research disciplines. The interest in the programme among researchers was great and the applications were of such a high quality that all of the financiers chose to increase their original funding amount. In the last stretch of the application process we also got a new financier in the Kamprad Family Foundation.
The research programme is funded by the Finnish foundations The Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, The Finnish Cultural Foundation, and Stiftelsen Brita Maria Renlunds minne. In Sweden, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and The Kamprad Family Foundation are funders. The aim of Future Challenges in the Nordics is for scientifically sophisticated research undertaken under the auspices of the programme to also concretely benefit society.
For more information about Future Challenges in the Nordics – People, Culture and Society, please visitfuturenordics.org or contact
Christer Kuvaja Head of Research Society of Swedish Literature in Finland +358 40 152 2314 christer.kuvaja@sls.fi
Out of the eleven projects, four are taking place at universities in Finland and seven in Sweden
In the project Ethnic stereotypes over time – a Nordic comparison, researchers from Sweden and Finland are studying how and why stereotypes about national minorities and immigrant groups have changed between 1955 and today. The aim is to increase knowledge about the relations between ethnic groups and by doing so enable predictions about how the relations will evolve in the future. The project is taking place at the Institute for Futures Studies in Sweden with PhD Moa Bursell as the leader. The researchers represent the fields of sociology and Nordic studies. The project was granted 670,000 euros for four years.
The project Tackling Precarious and Informal Work in the Nordic Countries (PrecaNord)is looking into how sustainable the Nordic model is considering the changes to the labour market, with more and more people having uncertain or informal working conditions. Researchers from the fields of sociology, social anthropology, economics and migration studies from Finland, Sweden and Norway are studying the existence and trends of uncertain and informal work in these countries. The project takes place at the University of Helsinki and the project leader is Associate Professor in Sociology, Lena Näre. The project was granted 950,000 euros for four years.
The project The Automated Administration: Governance of ADM in the public sector is concerned with how automated decision making can be implemented without endangering the fundamental rights, good administrative practices and trust in public institutions. Researchers from Sweden and Finland representing socio-legal research, political science, media and communication studies, science and technology studies (STS) and legal dogmatics are participating in the project, which is taking place at Lund University. The project leader is Stefan Larsson, Associate Professor in Technology and Social Change. The project was granted 950,000 euros for four years.
The project Demography and democracy – Healthy ageing in a digital world focuses on how people over the age of 75 have access to digital healthcare services. The aim is to prevent digitalisation leading to differences in health and digital gaps among the older population in the Nordics. The project takes place at Lund University and involves researchers from Sweden, Denmark and Finland working in the fields of communication studies, digital health, sociology of health and illness, social work and gerontology. The project leader is Helena Sandberg, Associate Professor in Media and Communication Studies, Lund University. The project is financed by Familjen Kamprads stiftelse and was granted 990,000 euro for four years.
The project Peripheral Visions: When global agendas meet Nordic energy peripheriesstudies how renewable energy transformation is imagined, carried out and contested in the northern parts of Sweden, Finland, and Greenland. The project involves researchers from the areas of history of science and technology, environmental history, social anthropology, human ecology, political science, ecology, and social science energy research. The project leader is Erland Mårald, Professor in Science and Ideas at Umeå University, where the project takes place. The project was granted 950,000 euros for three years.
The project Unpacking the contention between openness and security in the Nordic region: Digital public surveillance practices at three state bordersis looking into how surveillance based on artificial intelligence and machine learning is used at the border of Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The aim is to point out the tension between openness and safety, where the increased safety risks encroaching on the integrity of the individual. The project takes place at the University of Gothenburg with Elena Raviola, Professor in Design Management, as the leader. Researchers from the areas of design studies, informatics, sociology, legal studies, science and technology studies and organisation studies from Sweden, Denmark and Norway are participating in the project. The project was granted 990,000 euros for four years.
In the project The Future of Nordic Youth in Rural Regions: A Cross-national Qualitative Longitudinal Study in four Nordic Countriesresearchers from Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway are studying young people’s life experiences, future plans and sense of belonging to the countryside with a disappearing and aging population in all Nordic countries. The research has touchpoints with history, sociology, education, cultural studies and geography. The project is taking place at the University of Jyväskylä and the project leader is Kaisa Vehkalahti, Adjunct Professor of Cultural and Social History. The project was granted 900,000 euros for three years and eight months.
The project Nordic basic schools as past, present and future sites for solving the challenges of making diverse inclusive knowledge-based societies studies how the basic school as a physical location has contributed to social togetherness, inclusion and exclusion from the 1970s until today. The emphasis is especially on how material changes and digitalisation have influenced and changed the social coexistence at school in the Nordic countries. Researchers from Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway are participating in the project and they represent the areas of education, history and applied linguistics. The project, which was granted 900,000 euros for four years, is taking place at Åbo Akademi and is led by Fritjof Sahlström, Professor in Education.
The projectFossil Free Futures: Divestment across the Nordic countriesstudies the driving forces that are motivating Nordic pension funds to divest in fossil fuels. The aim of the project is to better understand actors of change, their tools and practices in initiatives to divest pension funds. The project is taking place at the University of Stockholm and it was granted 870,000 euros for three years. The project leader is Linda Soneryd, Professor in Sociology, and the other participants are researchers from Sweden, Norway and Denmark in the areas of sociology, science and technology studies, economic sociology and climate change.
The project The Future of Diverse and Disadvantaged Neighborhoods in the Nordic Welfare States — The Voices of Residents conducts surveys among the residents in urban living areas with ethnic diversity to hear their thoughts about their surroundings. The project also wants to create methods to hear people who would not normally participate in studies. The project is taking place at the University of Gothenburg with Peter Esaiasson, Professor in Political Science, as the leader and it was granted 850,000 euros for three years. Researchers representing political science and urban geography from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland are participating in the project.
The project Keeping New Money on Board. The New Nordic Wealth Elites and the Future of the Welfare Modestudies the new wealthy elites, especially IT and finance elites, and their attitudes towards the values that create the foundation of the Nordic welfare state. Will these elites challenge the Nordic model and its staples, such as high taxation and a large public sector? The project is taking place at Tampere University. The project leader is Hanna Kuusela, Docent in Media Culture. The researchers for this project come from Finland and Sweden and they are specialists in sociology, communication studies, cultural studies and business administration. The project was granted 900,000 euros for three years and nine months.
Future Challenges in the Nordics – People, Culture and Society is a seven-year research programme that stimulates research within humanities and social sciences in the Nordics. The programme focuses on the large societal challenges of the 21st century and how those challenges are understood and handled within Nordic societies. The research programme finances eleven research projects with a total amount of 10.5 million euros. The aim is that the research benefits society by producing findings that are easy for citizens and decision-makers to access. The research programme is financed by The Society of Swedish Literature in Finland, The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, The Finnish Cultural Foundation, Stiftelsen Brita Maria Renlunds minne, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and The Kamprad Family Foundation.
Visual artist Essi Orpana is just starting off her career, which has already entailed many new realisations and turning points. The camera has always been an essential tool for her but in the past year or so Orpana has expanded her work from photographs and videos to new materials and ways of working.
Orpana’s artistic thesis for the master’s programme in photography at Aalto University, Such is the Silence, spreads to the surrounding space through wallpaper, garments, and old objects. Photographs taken in abandoned houses feature Miss Silence, Orpana wearing an old dress.
The artworks were exhibited in the Kunsthalle Turku at the end of the year 2020, and they were part of the Copenhagen Photo Festival programme during the summer of 2021. The Finnish State Art Commission acquired three pieces for its collections.
– When I was putting together Such is the Silence, I realised for the first time how I can combine different elements with photography and video. Since then I’ve been even more interested in creating spatial ambiances, and in the dialogue between the objects, Orpana says.
Residency provides an opportunity to experiment
Orpana is currently finalising her master’s thesis, which is based on her her artistic work, and the house it features. She says it was only during the writing process that she understood how much her childhood, and her grandparents’ country home have influenced the creation of the Such is the Silence artworks.
– When my sister and I were kids, we used to dress up in my grandmother’s clothes, and she told us about the various characters that were living on the farm. I have just now recognised how much my childhood, and the forming of an identity – and finding where I belong – relate to the way I work. I have been processing these subjects without realising it.
“If I can provoke thoughts, questions, or feelings in the observer, then I have achieved something.”
Orpana believes that art is always personal, yet themes such as identity and mortality as an inseparable part of living are part of the human existence. That’s why they are so easy to relate to.
– It feels like current society and social media culture alienate us from real life and nature, where the biological cycle is beautiful and more present. I think about these things a lot. If I can provoke thoughts, questions, or feelings in the observer, then I have achieved something, she says.
In December next year Orpana will spend three months in Fabrikken in Copenhagen as part of an artist in residence programme funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation. The main objective of the work residency is the opportunity to experiment, which will hopefully evolve into new artworks. Orpana would like to exhibit those in Helsinki, where she hasn’t had a solo show so far.
– I want to test new ways of combining digital photographs and videos with different materials. The artist residency is a perfect opportunity to develop my work further and to immerse in new ideas, she says.
Visual artist Essi Maaria Orpana received a grant which allows her to work for three months at the Fabrikken residency in Denmark in 2022.
The Art² (Art Squared) grant supports high-level art initiatives striving to reach larger audiences. With this grant, the Cultural Foundation aims to bolster art projects that impact and touch not only art experts but also the wider public. Because the importance of proceeds from ticket sales can be expected to grow as a source of funding, the grant also lends support to the expansion of production funding bases.
Five Art2 grants were awarded in the August 2021 round:
ANTI Contemporary Art Festival Association: EUR 300,000 for developing a coproduction and touring operating model for performing arts festivals.
Jazz City Turku: EUR 100,000 for developing the Archipelago Sea Jazz festival series.
Puppa ry: EUR 150,000 for developing the Purkutaide model (where condemned buildings are used as art venues).
Foundation of the Finnish Cultural Foundation in New York: EUR 250,000 for realising the institute network’s Together Again festival.
Artists’ Association of Finland: EUR 200,000 for realising the Young Artists 2023 exhibition.
ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival
A moment from Shoji Kato’s and Jani Mikkonen’s artwork “Descending” in 2020. Photo: Pekka Mäkinen / ANTI-festivaali
The ANTI Contemporary Art Festival Association, based in Kuopio, is in the process of producing six new Finnish performances to premiere between 2022 and 2023, in collaboration with the Hangö Teaterträff and Baltic Circle festivals. The performances will be seen at each of the collaborating festivals. The aim of the initiative is to attract new audiences to the festivals, to reinforce the operating conditions for non-institutional artists and the role of festivals within the Finnish art ecosystem, and to lengthen the life cycles of performances.
– Three of Finland’s most prominent performing arts festivals have combined their resources and competences in this initiative. We are convinced that it will lead to an exceptionally impactful result, which will diversely benefit artists, festivals and audiences. In this time of pandemic, climate crisis and polarised public discourse, we are incredibly grateful as festival organisers to be able to join forces and respond to these challenges together, explains ANTI Festival Manager Elisa Itkonen.
Archipelago Sea Jazz
A consert in the forest in Korpo Sea Jazz. Photo: Aleks Talve
Established in 2019, Archipelago Sea Jazz is a festival concept built around the attractiveness of the Finnish archipelago environment and high-quality jazz music. This extensive collaboration between cultural operators and four municipalities reinforces the appeal of the archipelago as a cultural and tourist destination, also increasing the accessibility and popularity of jazz among the general public.
– This grant has secured funding for the Turku Sea Jazz Festival, held at the gates to the archipelago, for the Åland Sea Jazz Festival in Mariehamn, and for raising the international profile of the event concept as a whole, rejoices Jazz City Turku Executive Director Jussi Fredriksson.
Puppa ry
Artwork by Heli Hassan Hamid in the House of Art in Kerava.
The House of Art (“Taiteen kotitalo”), set up in a condemned block of flats in Kerava in the summer of 2020 as a collaboration between more than 100 professional and amateur artists, reached an extensive audience and made the concept of placing art in condemned buildings more widely known. Art and cultural activities have been housed in empty or underutilised properties as part of the Purkutaide concept under graffiti artist Jouni Väänänen’s leadershipsince 2016. The Puppa ry association was established in 2020 as a support and background organisation for the operations, and it has now received a grant with which it intends to modernise the art field, examine the opportunities of condemned building art, and create new career opportunities for artists. Besides running exhibitions, the association will also produce a handbook on the concept for operators in the field.
The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York
The Together Alone project was initiated in spring 2020, mid-pandemic. Photo: Katja Tähjä
The exceptional circumstances created by the pandemic have generated a strong need for experiencing culture and art, for physical encounters and for community spirit. Meanwhile, however, the arts sector faces ever greater financial hardship. Together Againis a large-scale initiative started by the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes network to contribute to reinvigorating the cultural sector after the pandemic. All 17 Finnish cultural and academic institutes in the organisation are involved and their respective networks will be extensively used in reaching local partners and audiences.
– We are pleased to be able to work on a novel hybrid festival, in which artists and communities from various fields can come together both digitally and physically. The Together Alone project was initiated in spring 2020, mid-pandemic, to ease the predicament of many cultural operators. It will continue through 2021 and 2022, culminating in the Together Again Festival in 2023. The festival will tour the world via institutions, starting in Tokyo and ending in New York, via Europe, explains Pauliina Ståhlberg, Director of the Finnish Cultural Institute in Madrid.
– This grant awarded to the Together Again initiative allows for long-term development of our artist-centred operating model. The initiative is built around community spirit and support for communities. We are delighted that the institute network can be involved in coming up with novel, ecologically and ethically sustainable models and frameworks, says Jaakko Nousiainen, Director of the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland.
The Artists’ Association of Finland
Artwork made by Sini Kähönen, Salome Rajanti and Maiju Hukkanen. Photo: Patrik Rastenberger
The Artists’ Association of Finland is a nationwide umbrella organisation for the arts, which represents three thousand professional visual artists working in Finland. The Young Artists exhibition is one of Finland’s major platforms for displaying the work of young artists, as well as one of the country’s oldest exhibition institutions.
The Young Artists 2023 exhibition project will overhaul some of the production and exhibition practices for contemporary art and present a new generation of artists. At the same time, the initiative, run through a collaboration between ten exhibition and expert organisations, will pilot novel, fair working practices for the arts: some of the new works curated for the exhibition will be created as commissions through separate production grants, or under employment contracts.
– Our aim is to bring about permanent changes in the operating models of the arts sector, responding to the great challenges of meagre artist incomes and the lack of employment structures, explains the Artists’ Association’s Executive Director Annukka Vähäsöyrinki.
