Forthcoming policy developments

(Under construction)

Ongoing debates

In 2025, young people and youth-related themes received national recognition through the State Awards for Public Information, which were presented on 13 June 2025. The awards are granted annually by the Ministry of Education and Culture. One of the awards was granted to 13-year-old Osmo Peltola from the documentary-style television series Peltsi and Osmo (Yle – the Finnish public service media company), and another to the youth-led climate strategy agency Operaatio Arktis.

As stated in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s press release on 13 June 2025, ‘Osmo has Down syndrome. The strength of the series lies in how this fact is neither emphasised nor hidden. Peltsi and Osmo’s [father and son] adventures and conversations show just how ordinary life can be, even in a family that is a little different’. Regarding Operaatio Arktis, the press release highlights that ‘[i]n a short time, these young Arctic advocates have succeeded in making their voices heard both in Finland and internationally through their compelling use of knowledge’.

Among other award recipients, youth-related themes were also addressed in Katariina Havukainen, Inkeri Hyvönen, and Ella Lahdenmäki’s play The Gym Girls (Jumppatytöt, Theatre Takomo), as well as Anne Kantola, Jecaterina Mantsinen, and Omos Okoh’s non-fiction book Like Brothers: The Truth About Street Gangs in Finland (Kuin veljet. Totuus Suomen katujengeistä, Johnny Kniga 2024). In the previously mentioned press release, The Gym Girls is described as ‘a statement in defence of young people’s right to a peaceful space to grow’, while Like Brothers is recognised for ‘remind[ing] us that behind the phenomenon of street gangs lies a lesser-known reality in which young people feel excluded’.