Various trade missions to Finland took place this month and I had the chance to play a part in one of these trade missions. A delegation from the region Zwolle and Deventer visited Finland to get to know the Finnish market and possibilities that lay here. I especially looked forward to this trade mission growing up in Zwolle myself. 

In my very first week at the embassy I had a call with the organizers of the trade mission and it’s been super interesting to see the progress of planning this trade mission from start to finish. Part of their trade mission was a visit to the residence of the ambassador. Together with the ambassador and economic officer we informed the group of the work of the embassy in Finland and our experiences here. It was great to see how interested they were in Finland and to contribute to this visit. 

Circular Construction

During this month I had the opportunity to participate in a conference about circular construction in Lahti, which is a hour train ride away from Helsinki together with the economic officer Miina. The Dutch sustainable business developer of the Nordics visited Finland this week and joined the conference as well. Her goal is to create meaningful connections in the Nordic countries on the topic of sustainability. I joined her meetings with Finnish stakeholders who work in the field of circular construction and textile. It was a great week where I learned not only new things regarding these subjects but also had the pleasure to learn a lot from my colleagues.

ISB

This month started with an inspection of the embassy, which is done about every five years. These inspections are done to ensure that every embassy functions well and there are no potential risks.  Besides this, they focus on the work environment and establish in what way the embassy takes into account the general wellbeing of every employee as well as diversity, inclusion and integrity. As every other employee I also had an interview with one of the inspection staff to talk about my experience at the embassy. The whole inspection was done within a week and afterwards we received a report with recommendations, which have to be fulfilled within the next six months.