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 Funding practicalities Fair practices in funded projects Grants+ Project communications Instructions for At the Well blog Instructions for project pages Kamari booking calender 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 Vuoden Tiedekynä Academic Writing Award The fourth thematic grant call in the programme “Is Democracy Eroding?” focuses on securitization. The thematic grant call was 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 was securitization. It was organized within the programme Is Democracy Eroding? Funding was 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 could 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. 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). Funding for eight projects Funding totalling 1.9 million euros was granted to eight research projects. The funded projects address themes such as the securitization of minorities, architecture, youth, street gangs, archives, the future, activism, science, the economy, borders, and childhood. All the funded projects share a concern about the implications of securitization for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. A total of 274 applications were submitted to the thematic call. Read about the funded projects here (summary texts mostly in Finnish)