Standing at the Edge

Social media and the news cycle focus relentlessly on how to interpret the changes in the United States, and how Europe and Finland should respond. Here, I focus on what are the things I can have an influence on? How does the current situation affect the network of Finnish cultural and scientific institutes? How can we, actors in science, the arts, and creative fields, strengthen their resilience for the future?

The air is unstable and there are signs of a storm. As someone who loves wilderness hiking, I've learned that in such conditions, there are at least four things one needs to keep in mind:

1. An Accurate Picture of Reality

We need anchoring points rooted in reality. Without a shared understanding based on facts, we cannot build trust or a common vision.

Truth, power, technology, and money are once again dangerously intertwined. The information highway has turned into a multi-level interchange of disinformation. It is the responsibility of us all to ground the conversation in facts. Cultural and scientific institutes do long-term international work defending evidence-based knowledge. Even more is needed. Perhaps tireless fight against gaslighting and manipulated news is a new civic duty we must all learn to do better.

It's telling how great and growing the demand for Finland-based company ICEYE's satellite data currently is. SAR radar imagery doesn't lie - unlike, for example, the presidents of the USA or Russia with their staff. Truth is not yet dead.

2. Resilience

It's important that we look after our own capacity to withstand turbulence. This means building protection on many levels: mental discipline, the ability to cope with uncertainty and changing situations.

As a practical example, on the advice of a wise friend, I’ve started to try and avoid throwing myself at the mercy of news, social media, and other feeds before lunch. I keep my mornings primarily for work requiring thought and for meaningful encounters.

Art is also a crucial means of strengthening resilience. Art is not escapism. It is the conscious painting of a line between imagination and reality, and the opportunity to lean on the former to change the latter.

For a cultural organisation, resilience means not only caring for people's wellbeing and ability to cope, but also building an adequate financial buffer and diversifying income sources and partnerships.

3. Self-Sufficiency

When the world is in turmoil, we need to strengthen our independence. We must stand on our own feet and have the necessary tools and resources to continue our work.

The strength of the network of Finnish cultural and scientific institutes in this era is its particular structure: 17 independent foundations, cells, in different parts of the world. Each can operate autonomously, flexibly and from their local context. Together we form a strong whole that support Finland’s sustainable international engagement.

Taking care of our autonomy can also mean concrete things. Last week I moved my own email from an American server to a European service provider committed to sustainability and security. For AI applications, there are European alternatives, such as Mistral and Euria.

4. Connection

Fourth, we need not only independence but also each other. The paradox of self-sufficiency and interdependence is central in all complex systems – resilience researchers speak of adaptability, transformability and panarchy: sustainable systems in their different levels need both autonomy and connection.

For the Finnish cultural and scientific institutes, in addition to strengthening the umberall network SKTI’s role, this can mean even closer cross-sectoral collaboration and new, even surprising partnerships.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke in Davos about a new era of temporary and sector-specific alliances. It's comforting to remember that there is still a large group of countries in the world whose value base lies in democracy and a rules-based world order. The combined share of global GDP of these countries, located around the globe, is over 27%. It's not a majority, but still quite a significant group.