Kone Foundation’s strategy

Our vision is for free research, art and culture to flourish in an ecologically sustainable and socially equal Finland. Research and art are valuable in themselves and constantly challenge prevailing perceptions. Research output is subject to public debate and influences decision-making. Kone Foundation is a vigilant, bold and flexible organisation that cares about its grantees and works towards building a healthy work community.

OUR VALUES

Academic and artistic freedom

We foster academic and artistic freedom. Research and the arts must be allowed to grow and develop on their own terms. Free, responsible and diverse research and art are the prerequisites of civilisation and democracy.

Ecosocial awareness

Ecosocial awareness means the capability and willingness to act responsibly towards human communities, the environment and nature. We rely on the humanist quest to understand human beings, but see them as part of Earth’s ecosystem and biodiversity.

Perseverance

We appreciate persevering, unhurried and in-depth work. The aphorism “No hatching, no hatchling” by writer Jonimatti Joutsijärvi is an important metaphor for us, because it describes the time it takes for in-depth understanding to take root.

Diversity

We value diversity in and of itself and across various contexts such as in nature, language, society and people. We encourage multi-voiced discussions and listen to them carefully.

Boldness

For us, boldness means the courage to experiment, to question and to look at things differently. We value incompleteness, multidisciplinary approaches and combining perspectives to challenge our thinking. We encourage peacefully peaceful crossing of boundaries within and between disciplines, as well as across national borders. We equally value the courage to preserve what is worth maintaining. In our own work, we also want to push beyond the conventional: reach further, keep an open mind and take risks.

Sense of community

Boldness is powered by encounters, dialogue and a sense of community. This is expressed by the metaphor of the well as a place for sharing, listening and talking. A sense of community, hospitality and equality characterise our organisational culture.

Truth

Meaningful societal debate and development are built on facts, research evidence and open-minded thinking. Valuing truth means building our shared reality honestly and critically, fostering pluralism of voices and relying on research-based knowledge.

OUR OPERATIONS

The Foundation’s core operations include funding the work of researchers and artists. We support free and multi-voiced art and research. The Foundation supports humanities, social sciences, environmental sciences and artistic research. We also support artistic work and work that combines or is based on multidisciplinary research and art. We also monitor the efficiency of our support.

We fund Finns’ research and artistic work in Finland and abroad. Regardless of nationality, we support the work of researchers and artists in Finland and abroad when the work in question has a connection to Finland.

The Foundation develops ways to identify artists and researchers of interest through, for example, investigative work. The Foundation works not only as a brainstorming partner and mentor but also as a creator of connections and networks for applicants.

Funding programmes, themed calls for applications and other focused funding are ways to direct attention to issues the Foundation considers important and increase understanding of them. During the strategy period, we will focus on the issues of democracy, diversity and sustainable financial structures.

The Saari Residence’s international residency provides artists and researchers with the opportunity to focus on their work and exchange ideas with other residents. Its keywords are slowness, insight and change.

Saari Residence is a test platform for the future. The residence’s long-term activities and thinking are underpinned by an ecological approach, which also covers social and mental sustainability. The residence provides a place and context for finding and sharing sustainable working methods and for eliminating structural inequalities that make artists’ work more difficult. The goal is to be a forerunner in sustainable operating models within the international residency sector.

In addition to funding, the Foundation supports the expertise, resources and mental well-being of researchers and artists, as well as their networking. This support is called Grants+. The metaphor of the well is at the heart of our Grants+ work: encounters are important. We will continue to develop the Grants+ system using service design methods in interaction with grantees.

The number-one purpose of our communications is to provide visibility for grantees’ work. We reinforce influence through information; in other words, we make decision-makers and influencers aware of projects and make projects available to them. Our communication is interactive, dialogic, curious and alert.