Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes

The network of Finnish cultural and academic institutes comprises 17 institutes around the world. The institutes advance the international mobility, visibility and collaboration of Finnish professionals in the arts, culture and research. The institutes cooperate through a Helsinki-based association, the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes (SKTI), which also supports their lobbying, administration and communication in Finland. SKTI represents Finland in the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), which is a European network of organisations that engages in cultural relations from all EU Member States.

The institutes are civil society actors and organisations of general interest run by a private foundation, fund or association. Each institute has its own established purpose, which is based on the rules of the organisation that maintains it. In their activities, the academic institutes focus on promoting science and research, but they also organise cultural programmes. The Ministry of Education and Culture awards annual grants to the foundations that maintain the institutes. The Ministry also holds discussions to exchange information with the foundations and institutes.

Finland has cultural and academic institutes in Athens, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, London, Madrid, New York, Oslo, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, Tallinn and Tartu, and Tokyo.

In addition to institutes operating abroad, there is a Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre (Hanaholmen) in Espoo that works to develop co-operation between Finland and Sweden in all areas of society.

• The Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes