These trips will include presentations of Aalto University's research and artistic operations. Professor of Design Alastair Fuad-Luke was attending as a speaker, while participants were otherwise able to unwind in good company and participate in different activities.


Ambassador Pekka Huhtaniemi held the Alumni Speak reception at his residence. At this event, three Aalto University alumni living in London spoke about their work and experiences there.

Ambassador Huhtaniemi told attendees that his family had quite a few Aalto University alumni as well as alumni of Aalto’s predecessors: his wife Liisa is an alumnus of the Helsinki School of Economics, and two of his daughters have studied at the present School of Arts, Design and Architecture.

The ambassador told attendees about the embassy's five key areas of focus and about everyday work there.

’Finland’s profile is very visible in the United Kingdom. Finland’s primary school system has a good reputation here and people speak about it often.’

According to Ambassador Huhtaniemi, alumni are not only the university's but Finland's representatives when they move abroad. He reminded the attendees that also foreign students studying in Finland are important recipients of Finland-info.

Helsinki School of Economics alumnus Heli Rajasalo has established her own company Rock Your World in London. Through her company, Heli acts as a life coach, consultant and strategist for companies in the creative fields. When it was her turn to speak, Heli focused especially on questions related to job hunting.

‘In England, personal meetings are important, far more so than different types of applicability tests, which are favoured in Finland. Also, that which you want to passionately pursue in the future and how you are able to communicate this to potential employers can be a determining factor with regard to getting work. Additionally, England is full of recruitment companies, which you should utilise.’

’Everyone is the leading expert on their own life’, Heli summarised the attitude required for success in London.

Helsinki School of Economics graduate Jouni Mölsä spoke about his work as the press counsellor for the Finnish Embassy in London. Mr Mölsä attended the event on his last day in his current position, as he was to step into his new role as Director of Communications at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the following office day.

‘The objective of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is that Finland maintains a influential position in the international community. This is why it is important in today’s multilateral world to be influential in many forums and take real actions. London is the world’s most lobbied city, and nothing can be seen through without a good idea’, Mr Mölsä began.

 According to Mr Mölsä, the media is only interested in bad news, while everything else needs to be sold to them. ’Writing a counterword is of little use, what matters are real actions. For example, after the school shooting in Jokela, a British journalist who wrote an article that described Finland unfavourably was invited to Finland to observe the after-care given after the tragedy. This then resulted in a more positive article.’

‘Journalists invited to Finland are shown genuine situations, as this is the only thing that carries weight. We do not stage anything, as Finland’s national brand is made by Finns’, Mr Mölsä said and continued that another good tool are Britain's problems, which can be used to highlight Finnish examples and solutions.


The third alumni speaker was Designer Matti Liimatainen, who graduated from the School of Arts, Design and Architecture last spring and has also studied mechanical engineering for a year in Otaniemi. After graduating, Mr Liimatainen was immediately recruited as an employee to Aitor  Throup Group Studio in London. The studio operates in the fields of clothing design, branding and graphic design.

“At the moment, I work in all three fields, because our company is so small. This multidisciplinarity is what makes the work unique at this point in time. I definitely want to focus on clothing design, as soon as it is possible.’

Matti described trial clothing projects in words and pictures. One such project were trousers with attached shoes.  They were sold immediately.
‘In general, our operations are marked by brainstorming on what a specific product would be like, if it was only invented today’, Matti answered, when the audience wondered about the company’s products.

‘Master's studies in fashion are heavily criticised here in Britain. The education I received in Finland is of a very high standard’, Matti answered a question on what greetings he would like to send to Aalto’s current students of clothing design and listed a group of international top names for whom his coursemates work.

Alumni dinner brought alumni to the same table

Nearly 40 alumni, some from Finland and others who live and work in London, arrived at the alumni dinner.

Vice President Hannu Seristö welcomed the alumni to the event, as well as emphasised the importance of alumni as promoters of the university's social discourse and internationality.


Salla Häsä from alumni relations noted that London forms one of the university’s leading ventures in the internationalisation of alumni relations.

‘Our aim is to establish alumni chapters in different parts of the world, as a form of interaction and networking. London is our first location.’

The evening was spent chatting informally, exchanging stories about each person’ own life and making new acquaintances. Topics ranged from who had built a sauna on the outskirts of London, who had started a new job and who had started to study what new subject. The evening even included one impromptu pitch on finding a job in the London area, targeted at those moving there.

What is design? Mini-seminar offers food for thought

Amongst other matters, Professor Alastair Fuad-Luke highlighted the future areas of design and shook up the traditional ways of thinking at the Design Activism, Wellbeing and Emergent Alternative Economies mini-seminar held at the Finnish Institute in London.

At the start of the seminar the professor challenged his audience to tell him what came first to their minds when they heard the word design.


‘I first think of practical beauty and that design makes everyday life more interesting’, said Marja Lehväslaiho who had studied accounting as her university major.

‘Predicting and foreseeing’, summarised Marko Santala, a physicist living in Oxford.

‘Everyday life’, was the simple answer offered by Johanna Järvinen, a student of bioproduct technology.

‘It was very welcome and invigorating to hear how alumni of other fields view design’, rejoiced Karoliina Vilander, designer and chair of the Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo. She first thought of new and alternative solutions and joy when she heard the word design.


The problems affecting the world, such as climate change, the financing crisis, poverty and youth unemployment on the Iberian Peninsula, all impact a designer’s work by bringing about new opportunities and challenges. Professor Fuad-Luke took a bit more time to examine different types of economies.

‘What do we mean in many different economies when we speak about economic growth, what type of economy do we want to see grow', the professor challenged his audience and listed dozens of new, alternative or currently evolving economies born from different points of emphasis.


A slightly different London on the Design Talk & Walk

The informal Design Talk & Walk tour with Professor Fuad-Luke led the alumni through urban design in the 1980s and 1990s with examples and then to a marketplace in Spitalfields brimming with design, food and retro items. The adventure into a different type of London ended at Brick Lane, one of London's creative areas, to which few tourists venture and which has been favoured by immigrants for over 300 years.