A Sustainable Future through Change: highlights of 2022

In 2022, the Saari Residence invested in ecological residence activities: we encourage residents to reflect on their relationship with sustainable lifestyles, diversity, the climate crisis and other species. A new operating model was created for individual residencies, which emphasises the special features of different seasons and strengthens the importance of local nature in Saari as part of the residency experience.

The creation of the EcoCompass environmental management system culminated in the Saari Residence being awarded the EcoCompass certificate in December. In the Saari Residence’s new pasture area, the species mapping project of the University of Turku’s Department of Biology continued, and a multi-year collaboration was started with Aalto University’s degree programme in landscape architecture in order to strengthen biodiversity in the Saari Residence’s grounds. Cooperation within the NAARCA network of northern residencies continued, and the emphasis on ecology was also reflected in the Saari Residence’s Reviving the Wild podcast series.

We received 580 applications in the residency application round from a total of 72 countries. 507 applications were submitted for individual residencies, of which 56 were working partners as well as 73 applications for group residencies. Residency was granted to 27 individual artists and ten artistic working groups for 2023.

The war in Ukraine gave rise to the Ukraine Solidarity Residencies network, a network  co-funded by the Saari Residence that offers residencies for Ukrainian artists fleeing the war. From March to July, jazz singer Mari Zhiginas worked at the Saari Residence and artist Katya Lesiv from May to August.

Following the completion of the renovations of the main manor building and the Jacob’s Barn events space, we were able to organise events for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Some examples of this are the Nordic Network of Norm-Critical Leadership, who met at Saari in the summer. We were also able to organise a Christmas party for schoolchildren as usual, and the Mix & Mingle meetings at Gallery Titanik in Turku were a new and successful form of cooperation, bringing together artists and local art professionals.

The Mynä-Mynä-Maa community art project, which is located in a building scheduled for demolition in the centre of Mynämäki, was opened to the public in May. The project consists of 42 rooms and 72 works of art and culminated in a total of 255 creators. This successful and ambitious project received plenty of positive feedback and attention: over the summer and autumn, 10,000 visitors found their way to Mynä-Mynä-Maa.

You can also find your way to Mynä-Mynä-Maa virtually below in a 3D model version! The texts are only available in Finnish, but you can still go on a stroll if you want to.

Bouncing Back to the New Normal: highlights of 2022

The start of the war in Ukraine meant that we had to provide rapid crisis information concerning the Foundation’s support of Ukrainian researchers and artists, as well as pass on new instructions to grantees whose work was affected by the war. Otherwise, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus of communications lay soundly in the digital realm.

We performed the key purpose of our communication – making grantees’ work visible – by launching project pages for our grantees on our website. On a project page, grantees could tell the world about their projects, their work and their results. By the end of the year, there were already 17 pages published. Grantees also continued to write for the At the Well blog: more than 20 blog posts were published during the year.

Project stories were developed as a new way of sharing information about the grantees’ work. In these stories, grantees explain what the artistic and research freedom the Foundation gives them means for their work and the ‘Different Routes’ series of long reads was continued with four articles. With the war in Ukraine, the long article about the Russian information warfare became the most read article in the series.

A new interview concept was used in order to aid communication regarding Sonja Miettinen, the winner of the Vuoden Tiedekynä award for academic writing, which underlined Miettinen describing her own research and the writing process of her article. In May, we announced our funding for art research and artistic research at four universities. The Foundation went through changes and in June, we disclosed that Anna Talasniemi would be leaving the Foundation and that Ulla Tuomarla would be appointed CEO following the Foundation’s switch to the CEO model. 

Also in June, we were able to meet grantees and stakeholders at our big summer party on the island of Lonna in Helsinki for the first time in a very long time. The party featured the Jimi Tenor Band, Aoide and the DJs Renaz and Wekesa. After the celebrations calmed down, we got back to work and in the autumn, we developed the Foundation’s public relations through a series of invite-only lunches hosted by the CEO.

Communications about the grant call and awarded grants followed a familiar and tried-and-tested process. The data studio service that tracks the amount of followers of and the number of visitors to the website and our social media accounts was updated and a monthly internal reporting method was developed for tracking the results, alongside our already in use extensive media monitoring service.

A Look into 2022

Kone Foundation relies on yields from investments for its operations. The purpose of the Foundation’s investment function is to manage the Foundation’s investment assets so that operations pursuant to the Foundation’s by-laws remain stable now and in the future and is guided by the investment strategy determined by the Board of Trustees, the rules of procedure for investments and the annual investment action plan. The starting point of Kone Foundation’s investment activities and asset management is to secure its revenue and capital, as well as the responsibility of its investments. In its capacity as an owner and investor, the Foundation seeks to promote ecologically and socially sustainable business in compliance with the principles of good corporate governance.

2022 was a challenging year for equity and interest rate markets. The inflation rate prompted several central banks to tighten monetary policy and raise key interest rates at a brisk pace, which had a negative impact on both equities and fixed income investments. The Russian war in Ukraine and its indirect effects further increased the prices of commodities, especially energy, and in Europe, the availability of gas was also a cause for concern. Geopolitical tensions, strict COVID-19 restrictions in China and the disruptions in supply chains and logistics increased the challenges in the investment market. Both equities, whose valuations peaked at the beginning of the year, and fixed income investments fell for well over three quarters of the year before taking a slight upward turn in the autumn. The unusually weak performance of fixed income investments was due to the rapid rise in market interest rates from very low baselines. Inflation has proven to be broader and more persistent than experts initially expected, with the result that interest rates are likely to remain high for longer than expected.

During the year, responsible investments in line with Kone Foundation’s strategy were executed, taking into account factors related to the investment targets’ environment, society and good corporate governance, and investments in assets that specifically aim to promote social or environmental sustainability goals were increased.

Kone Foundation employs a long-term investment horizon. The majority of its investments are in shares. The Foundation’s annual spending is not based on annual revenue, as cyclical fluctuations or market conditions can cause the running yield to vary widely year on year. The Board of Trustees decides the amount of grants to be awarded each year, taking into account both the current income from investment assets in the previous financial year and the latest projections of income, and the Foundation is mindful of future funding needs.