The spring and the beginning of the summer have been busy and filled with work, in a good way. During this time there have been many events and meetings in different areas. We have kept in mind the variety of fields FinnAgora is active in from culture, science to economics. 

Cultural events have included music, films and literature. Events have been organized with both Finnish and Hungarian partners. We have collaborated with universities, such as National University of Public Service and Metropolitan University. New important partners when organizing seminars have been Romaversitat Alapitvány, who we collaborated with in organizing a seminar on the employment and education opportunities of Roma youth. Another important new partner has been the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hungary, together with whom we brought Finnish friendship congregations to a seminar. FinnAgora has also been a part of the ArtisBusiness-event where funding for culture was discussed. People interested in the Finnish language, Finnish food and in Finland in general have been attending our language café events and our pop-up restaurant day Taste Åland. 

In addition to our outwards visible activities we have also internally developed our organization. We have actively been part of building FinnAgoras new strategy, which the board will officiate during the board meeting in the fall. We have developed our own internal workmethods and taken care of our work community. This is very important, especially when working in a small team. To this small team we have also received support from the Embassy of Finland, with whom collaboration is not just an official matter but it is also visible daily in our interactions and conversations. 

During the upcoming fall FinnAgoras program will include a lot of interesting things: design, films, literature, jazz, theater and business in relation to the Finnovation-theme. There will be more information on the events on our website, our newsletter and on social media. I want to thank everyone who has attended our events during spring and the summer and our partners. Still in January we were worried about our possibilities of organizing physical events. We have been able to do so and we have been able to build valuable new connections with old and new friends. 

To all friends of FinnAgora I wish you a lovely summer! 

Anneli Temmes

Interim Director