Citizens’ Forum (Kansalaisfoorumi) is a national adult education institution, one of 12 such study centres in Finland. Our goal is to promote active citizenship, foster a sense of community and offer people opportunities for participation and personal growth. With us, communities and individuals are able to develop themselves through culture, art and shared activities.
We organize training sessions and seminars that are open to everyone. In addition to events that we host ourselves, we also support our eight member organizations in their education work both financially and pedagogically. Together with our member organizations we organize some 23 000 hours of education each year. Annually, our communal study groups study for some 6 300 hours and we have approximately 17 000 participants.
In our educational activities we emphasize dialogue and appreciation for the lived experience of the participants. The education we provide makes use of art-centred methods and is based on peer learning and communal knowledge production.
Our books and other publications offer current and practical information on organizational activities, civil society, culture and arts education and functional learning methods. We also maintain the kansalaisyhteiskunta.fi website that offers a comprehensive view of Finnish civil society.
We also realize different projects both on our own and together with our member organizations and other partners. Some projects have an international dimension. The contents of our projects emphasize such factors as active citizenship, arts and culture and the development of organizational and civic activities. If you are interested in cooperating with us on a project, please contact Secretary General Anneliina Wevelsiep: anneliina.wevelsiep@kansalaisfoorumi.fi.
Our members and other organizations can book a meeting room for an affordable price. The room is located in Sörnäinen, Helsinki, and is easily reached by public transportation.
