Home Grants Funding programmes and thematic grant calls Thematic grant call 2025: Securitization and Democracy Thematic grant call 2025: Securitization and Democracy GrantsFor grant applicants Criteria for applying Kone Foundation’s focuses in awarding grants Guidelines for making an application Evaluation and decisions Frequently asked questions Propose a peer reviewer For grant recipients General information about the grant Grant payment, social security and taxation Grants+ Project communications Kamari booking calender Kone Foundation logos and mentioning the funder Funding programmes and thematic grant calls Funding programme: Is Democracy Eroding? (2021–2025) Thematic grant call 2025: Securitization and Democracy Thematic grant call 2024: Media and Democracy in Finland in the 2020s Thematic grant call 2022: The current state and challenges of Finnish democracy Thematic grant call 2021: Language, Power and Democracy Previous thematic grant calls Metsän puolella initiative (“For the Woods“) Metsän puolella: Guidelines for making a grant application Vuoden Tiedekynä Academic Writing Award The fourth thematic grant call in the programme “Is Democracy Eroding?” focuses on securitization. The thematic grant call is held from 1 April to 30 April 2025. In 2025, many things in Finland are viewed through the lens of threats and national security. Such a threat framework is indeed a realistic way to perceive the situation, especially in relation to environmental crises and Russia’s war against Ukraine. However, in many other areas, the approach poses a threat to democracy. The theme for Kone Foundation’s spring 2025 thematic call is securitization. It is organized within the programme Is Democracy Eroding? Funding can be awarded to projects that, through research, increase understanding of, for example, the impact of securitization on the realization of fundamental and human rights, the narrowing of a pluralistic public debate, restrictions on the openness and accessibility of information, the growing societal power of security authorities and institutions, or the sidelining of environmental issues. Individuals, working groups, and organizations can apply for funding. Securitization can be seen as repeated attempts to declare a state of emergency that bypasses democratic decision-making—such as was witnessed during the pandemic—or when fear is spread about an ongoing third world war or the collapse of Finland’s economy. Declaring a situation as a crisis is also a way to create threat narratives and a means to generate political capital for politicians who present themselves as crisis recognizers and solvers. Funded projects may include research, the popularization of research, or both. Thus the foundation encourages collaboration between researchers and journalists. Additionally, cooperation between academics and artists can be supported in the thematic call (though not exclusively artistic work). Guidelines for applying The application period begins on 1 April 2025, and ends on 30 April 2025, at 16:00 (Finnish time). The application form, along with attachments, must be submitted through the online service by 16:00 on 30 April. Only applications submitted through the online service by the deadline will be processed. Funding can be applied for by an individual, a working group, or an organisation with a business ID. Funding is intended for: Finns, for work carried out in Finland or abroad foreigners, for work carried out in Finland foreigners, for project work that includes participants based in Finland Funding can be awarded for the same project for a maximum of four consecutive years. The funding can be started no earlier than in September 2025. Funding will not be awarded retroactively. Read the general application instructions here.(Note that the dates for the thematic grant call and some parts of the form differ from the general funding application instructions.) More information For content-related questions, please contact Kalle Korhonen, Director of Funding, kalle.korhonen@koneensaatio.fi. For technical application questions, please contact Laura Lees, Grant specialist, laura.lees@koneensaatio.fi If you have questions about the themes or content of the thematic funding call, you can book a short advisory call for 13 March.Book an advisory session here