[H]ere in Toronto we’re busy studying how to jam more beds into already-cramped shelters, while over in Finland — where innovation is more than just another word for privatization — they’ve managed to virtually end homelessness. OK, so the Finns are more generous and just shell out a lot more to help the homeless, right? Actually not. The Finns are simply smarter.”Read More →
The World Happiness Report is out with its latest country rankings. Here’s a look at the countries that topped the list—and what the world’s happiest country can teach us about how to find joy: Reading, coffee, and saunas.Read More →
Finland leads the ranking of the world’s happiest countries for the sixth year in a row, according to the 2023 World Happiness Report released on Monday [March 20]. While its score (7.80) is significantly ahead of all other countries, a sizeable chunk of the top ten roundup are also Scandinavian, with Denmark in second place (7.59), Iceland in third (7.53), Sweden in sixth (7.40) and Norway in seventh (7.32). Slightly further down the ranking stand the United States in 15th place and the United Kingdom in 19th, with the latter having now dropped positions for four years in a row. At the bottom of theRead More →
HELSINKI, Feb. 28 – On Kalevala Day, the Kalevala Society Foundation awarded Finnish-born Canadian author and translator Kaarina Brooks with a prize of 5000€ for her English translations of Kalevala. Brooks’ work was notable because it applied the trochaic tetrametre (or Kalevala metre) to the English language, as far as has been possible. Brooks has translated the Old and New Kalevala (1835 and 1849 respectively) from Finnish to English in 2020 and 2021. The importance of Brooks’ work is increased by the fact that she has also translated Elias Lönnrot’s Prefaces to both Old and New Kalevala. It is notable that Brooks has applied theRead More →
For the very first time, the beloved Moomin characters in the Moomin Animations: Thrills and Cuddles exhibit are traveling across the ocean to the United States! Larger-than-life Moomin characters will fill the National Children’s Museum in Washington, DC Visitors Gallery with joy and discovery thru January 9, 2022. The exhibit is on loan from the Moomin Museum in Tampere, Finland, the only such museum in the world; it is brought to Washington by the Embassy of Finland. The exhibit highlights the rich history of Moomin animations, which are based on the Moomin books and comic strips created by the renowned Finnish artist and author Tove Jansson (1914–2001).Read More →