Today is a very special day for Finland and Finnish people around the world. This nordic country of around 5.5 million people is today celebrating its Independence Day, an event that took place 103 years ago in 1917 when the country declared its independence from Russia.
During the past two decades, Finland has made huge progress in various fields, such as education, recycling, waste-to-energy systems, digital technology, artificial intelligence, electronics, machinery, chemicals and the forest industry. The latter, which includes forestry, timber, pulp and paper, is based on the country’s extensive forest resources – 73 per cent of Finland is covered by forest. The country is also known as “the land of a thousand lakes”, though it actually has over 180,000 lakes in its territory.
The progress registered in the educational field has eventually reflected in the results obtained by Finnish students in international exams. These include Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and in the importance being given to technological and vocational education.
Finland is also excelling in other sectors such as economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life and human development. In fact, five years ago, Finland ranked first in the World Human Capital and the Press Freedom Index. Between 2011 and 2016, Finland was also considered as the most stable country in the world in the Fragile States Index and second in the Global Gender Report. For the past three years Finland also ranked first in the World Happiness Report.
Relations between Malta and Finland
Diplomatic relations between Malta and Finland were established on February 25, 1969. During the past five decades, Maltese and Finnish leaders had the opportunity to meet and discuss various ideas and initiatives to strengthen relations between the two countries. Last year, Foreign Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela met his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto and in December 2018, former prime minister Joseph Muscat met his Finnish counterpart, Juha Silipa, during the latter’s official visit to Malta.
Initiatives with Finnish entities
Since last August, in my new role of Ambassador Designate to Finland, I have been doing my utmost to continue to strengthen the relations between the two countries. In these first few months I have been giving priority to the fields of education, media, tourism, digital technology and environment.
In these first few months I have been giving priority to the fields of education, media, tourism, digital technology and environment
In the past weeks I have met and held ongoing communication with the Finnish Ambassador to Malta, Pia Rantala Engberg, and her colleagues in Rome on the one hand and ministers Evarist Bartolo, Julia Farrugia Portelli, Aaron Farrugia, Clayton Bartolo, Carmelo Abela and parliamentary secretary Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi on the other. This collaboration has already led to a number of initiatives for the benefit of Maltese society.
On October 20, an online seminar was held on the use of the Finnish educational gamification tool Seppo. HSBC Malta is supporting an initiative to trial Seppo in the local context for the first time. The pilot project kicked off last month and is involving 15 educators for whom HSBC has purchased a licence. In this respect, I take this opportunity to thank HSBC’s Glenn Bugeja.
On November 27, an online conference was also held for the first time on how to teach children and society in general how to distinguish between real and fake news. This conference, organised in collaboration with the Finnish NGO Faktabaari, was well attended by educators, lecturers from the University of Malta and MCAST, and students studying to become journalists. It was also officially opened by minister Bartolo and closed by minister Abela.
One of the outcomes from this conference was the establishing of contacts between Maltese educators and the Finnish directors of Faktabaari – Mikko Salo and Kari Kivinen – who led the conference. A number of meetings are also scheduled between these Finnish media experts and minister Abela.
In the field of digital technology, Maltese and Finnish experts have also had the opportunity to discuss possible future collaboration in this area.
After meetings with former tourism minister Farrugia Portelli and officials from the Malta Tourism Authority discussions have started to study ways of improving travel links between the countries in these challenging times and in the future, and strategies to improve the promotion of Malta in the main Finnish cities. We have to draw up a strategy in this area to be implemented once the pandemic is over.
Finland is also sharing with our country its policies and good practices in the field of recycling, green economy and waste-to-energy, climate change, household waste, plans on urban greenery and smart planning.
In the coming weeks we are planning a number of meetings between Maltese policymakers and Finnish experts in these sectors.
On another note, we are also planning to take initiatives and hold activities in order to facilitate communication and collaboration between Maltese and Finnish entrepreneurs.
I am confident that in the future, Malta and Finland will continue to collaborate not only in the areas mentioned above but also in other sectors. The geographical distance and other differences between the two countries will not limit or hinder this collaboration.
I take this occasion to wish a happy Independence Day to all Finnish people living in Malta and around the world.
Kenneth Vella is Ambassador Designate for Finland and Estonia and headmaster of Mater Boni Consilii – St Joseph School, Paola. He has been collaborating with Finnish and Estonian educational entities for a number of years, facilitating visits to Finnish schools and universities by Maltese educators from Church, state and independent institutions, coordinating seminars held locally on Finnish pedagogy, and has been instrumental in introducing Finnish and Estonian educational resources to Maltese teachers and educators.