Finland's Institutes are excellent value for money

The Finnish cultural and academic institutes successfully promote Finnish culture and science around the world with small resources, new report states.

A recent report conducted by the Finnish Foundation for Cultural Policy Research, Cupore, states that the Finnish cultural and academic institutes perform very effectively. Both financiers and interest groups consider the cultural and academic institutes to reach excellent results in relation to their resources. Or as a partner interviewed for the report puts it: "I must acknowledge that with very limited human and financial resources they achieve a surprising amount of visibility".

Interestingly the report also reveals that the institutes can be very effective even when their public visibility is low. This is due to the transformation the institutes have gone through in the recent years from organising events in their own premises to operating as networking organisations.

"I see the Institute as an instrument that can be used to achieve great things. The fact that we are small allows us to grab opportunities quickly", says the Director of The Finnish Institute in London, Raija Koli. "99% of our efforts and know-how is focused on working with the right people and doing the right things. That always creates the kind of visibility and credibility that is based on something solid", she concludes.

This is the first time the effectiveness of the cultural and academic institutes has been systematically assessed. For Cupore's report directors of the institutes, representatives of their background organisations, interest groups and financiers were interviewed. Material for the report also included annual reports and final accounts from the institutes.

The institute network (http://www.institute.fi) consists of 16 cultural and academic institutes located outside of Finland as well as the Hanasaari Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre in Espoo, Finland.

Read the full report (in Finnish) here.