Finland’s success hinges on skills – The next government will hold the fate of the country in its hands

A high level of skills and their flexible development are the key strengths upon which Finland’s future welfare is built. That is why investment in education, research and innovation must become strategic focus areas for the next government. The only guarantee of Finland’s future success is ensuring the provision of sufficient funding for higher education institutions, research and skills.

Universities and universities of applied sciences have committed to carrying out their significant societal duties, flexibly developing their operations to meet the needs of society. The successful execution of their mission also in the future requires improved guarantees for the stability, predictability and sufficiency of their core funding.

We need a long-term strategy for a scientific policy and an innovation policy that serve both the research and higher education sphere as well as the business sector in a sustainable manner. Funding allocated to education and research must be considered an investment that will secure our continued success.



Innovations and research that will lay a foundation for our welfare and growth for decades – even centuries – are being conducted right now.

Finland cannot thrive without unrestricted top-level basic research, state-of-the-art applied research and interaction between academic communities and society. From the perspective of fostering employment and economic growth, other central factors include improving the level of education, as well as developing models and funding for life-long education.

A highly educated workforce, products with high added value and attractive competence clusters draw more international experts, investments and businesses to Finland. The work-related immigration of skilled experts must be further streamlined.

When the government pursues a higher education policy with a forward-looking perspective, it will

  • Offer Finland’s education, scientific and innovation policy a long-term direction based on a consensus that extends across government terms and in a sustainable manner serves both the research and higher education sphere as well as the business sector. 
  • Commit to supporting the achievement of the goal of increasing research, development and innovation investment to 4% of the gross domestic product by 2030, which also means a significant growth in contributions to research and development activities, as well as increasing the funding for institutions of higher education in the coming government term. The government will improve the stability and predictability of the funding allocated to higher education institutions, for example, by permanently reinstating their funding indexes. Currently, the core funding of higher education institutions has decreased throughout the 2010s.
  • Steer research, development and innovation policy on a shorter term through various funding instruments by removing redundancies and focusing on larger entities, also in competitive funding.  Funding awarded by Business Finland and the Academy of Finland will be developed as broader and increasingly strategic entities.
  • Choose education and research as the spearhead theme of its presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Signatories:

Confederation of Finnish Industries

Finnish Education Employers



Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland Akava

Finnish Psychological Association

Finnish Association of Speech and Language Therapists

Akava Special Branches

Finnish Association of Academic Agronomists

Association of Finnish Lawyers

Union of Diaconal Workers in Finland

Finnish Association of Occupational Health Nurses

Talentia Union of Professional Social Workers

Finnish Dental Association

Finnish Association of Public Health Nurses

Finnish Union of University Professors

Social Science Professionals

Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers

Union of Professional Business Graduates in Finland

Union of Professional Engineers in Finland

Trade Union of Education in Finland

Finnish Business School Graduates

Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK

Finnish Pharmacists’ Association

Association for Managers and Professionals YTY

Union of Professionals in Natural, Environmental and Forestry Sciences Loimu

Union of Sales and Marketing Professionals

Universities Finland UNIFI

Rector’s Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Science Arene

National Union of University Students in Finland SYL

University of Applied Sciences Students in Finland Samok

Aalto University

University of Helsinki

University of Eastern Finland

University of Jyväskylä

University of Lapland

LUT University

University of Oulu

Hanken School of Economics

University of the Arts Helsinki

University of Tampere

University of Turku

University of Vaasa

Åbo Akademi University

National Defence University



Centria University of Applied Sciences

Diaconia University of Applied Sciences

Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences

Humak University of Applied Sciences

Häme University of Applied Sciences

Åland University of Applied Sciences

JAMK University of Applied Sciences

South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences

KAMK University of Applied Sciences

Karelia University of Applied Sciences

Lahti University of Applied Sciences

Lapland University of Applied Sciences

Laurea University of Applied Sciences

Metropolia University of Applied Sciences

Oulu University of Applied Sciences

Police University College

Saimaa University of Applied Sciences

Satakunta University of Applied Sciences

Savonia University of Applied Sciences

Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences

Tampere University of Applied Sciences

Turku University of Applied Sciences

Vaasa University of Applied Sciences

Arcada University of Applied Sciences

Novia University of Applied Sciences