Nessling Impact is a programme that aims that the work of the researchers and the projects funded by the Nessling Foundation are implemented in society to accelerate the sustainability transformations that protect natural systems. The programme offers our grantees opportunities to develop the impact of their work. Within the programme, we organise training and personal sparring, and we help sharing about the work of the grantees.
Nessling Impact Fridays
A Nessling Impact Friday will be organised on Fridays about once a month with a changing theme. The Fridays include training, webinars, peer groups or other activities. The Nessling Impact Fridays are meant for the Nessling Foundation’s current grantees. We will cover reasonable travel expenses for participants coming from outside the Helsinki metropolitan area. Get to know the constantly updated calendar below and sign up.
Coming events
Training on 18 August between 9.30–12.00: How to write a letter to the editor?
Location: Puistokatu 4, Helsinki
Maximum number of participants: 6 people
Language: Finnish
Instructor: Enni Sahlman, Impact Specialist in the Nessling Foundation
In the workshop, the participants will be guided on how to write a letter to the editor on their chosen topic for the media of their choice. The texts will be sent out to be published. During the workshop, you will get basic information on letters to the editor as a genre, some tips for editing the text and boldness to take a stand. The instructor Enni Sahlman will comment on and edit your text when it is ready if you so wish. The participants will prepare a short preliminary assignment before the workshop, which will help them choose a topic and relevant media for their text.
The participants may stay and get to know each other at a shared, self-paid lunch at Restaurant Elm in Puistokatu 4. Please tell us if you are interested in the lunch when you sign up, so we will be able to book a table with enough seats.
Sign up (please note that the language of this event is Finnish)
Workshop on 15 September between 9.30–12.00: Let’s update Wikipedia
Location: Puistokatu 4, Helsinki
Maximum number of participants: 10 people
Language: Finnish and English
Host: Enni Sahlman, Impact Specialist in the Nessling Foundation
Wikipedia is one of the most important tools in democratising knowledge. Is there a lack of an article on your research topic or a term that is important in your work? Can you find information on your topic in English but not in Finnish, or the other way around? Come and update Wikipedia together with others!
Updating Wikipedia is easy and anyone can do it. You can come to the workshop to start a whole new article or to update and complete an existing one. The participants will be guided to get the work started, and the workshop will give you both technical and peer support in updating Wikipedia.
The participants may stay and get to know each other at a shared, self-paid lunch at Restaurant Elm in Puistokatu 4. Please tell us if you are interested in the lunch when you sign up, so we will be able to book a table with enough seats.
The Nessling Impact Friday theme in October is social media in researcher’s work
More information and the time of the event will be updated on the website in the autumn.
17 November between 9.30–12.00: Peer group: From a researcher to a non-fiction author
Location: Puistokatu 4, Helsinki
Maximum number of participants: 10 people
Language: Finnish
Host: Katja Bargum, Science and Executive Director in the Nessling Foundation, non-fiction author
A non-fiction book is a way of sharing researched data for the general public. For the author, a non-fiction book is more free than a research article in terms of writing on any topic. The peer group will discuss ideas on writing a non-fiction book, from an idea about the book to a finished product. During the workshop, participants will do short exercises that help design the concept and form of the book. We will also share tips on finding a publisher and funding for the book. All participants will do a small pre-assignment that prepares them to participate in the discussions and exercises during the workshop.
The host of the peer group will be Katja Bargum who has written three non-fiction books after her doctorate. Her books Kutistuva turska ja muita evoluution ihmeitä (‘The Shrinking Cod and Other Wonders of Evolution’) won the State Award for Public Information in 2011 and Muurahaisten ennätyskirja was nominated for the Finlandia Prize in Children’s and Youth Literature in 2022.
The participants may stay and get to know each other at a shared, self-paid lunch at Restaurant Elm in Puistokatu 4. Please tell us if you are interested in the lunch when you sign up, so we will be able to book a table with enough seats.
Sign up by 2.11. (please note, that the language of this event is Finnish)
Book a personal sparring session from an Impact Specialist or a Communications Specialist
The sparring sessions are meant for the Nessling Foundation’s current grantees.
Sparring by an Impact Specialist
The Nessling Foundation’s Impact Specialist is Enni Sahlman. Her background is in the field of communication and she has worked, for example, as a communications specialist for foundations, research projects, research organisations, universities and different expert organisations. Enni has also led communications of a youth organisation as the Head of Communications. She has a special skill in bringing different operators together and bringing out impact from scarce resources.
Together with Enni, you may reflect on, for example:
- what kind of change would you want to achieve through your work, and who could help you in making that change happen
- working with your project’s stakeholders
- what kind of communications strategy is beneficial to your project
- is there anyone to collaborate with or to spar you among the Nessling Foundation’s other grantees.
Or questions concerning communication, such as:
- how to succeed in an interview or with media in general
- what would be the best way to communicate your research results
- how to build an interesting presentation for listeners outside of your field
- how to summarise your message in an interesting way.
You can also ask sparring for other topics than the ones mentioned above as long as they are related to the communication, interaction or impact of your project. We encourage you to book a sparring session without hesitation!
Book a sparring session by sending Enni an email at enni.sahlmant(a)nessling.fi and suggesting for a time. Title your message as “Booking a sparring session”. The sparring sessions may be held by phone, on Teams or on place at Puistokatu 4. The sparring sessions are maximum of an hour and a half.
NB: We may limit the number of sparring sessions if there are a lot of bookings.
Sparring by a Communications Specialist
The Nessling Foundation’s Communications Specialist is Johanna Osváth. Johanna has studied politics & communication research and comparative literature. She has worked in the fields of communications and science as a communication planner, journalist, editor-in-chief and literary critic. Her forte is in understanding, editing and producing diverse texts in diverse contexts.
Together with Johanna, you may reflect on, for example:
- The sharpness of your research’s communicative message
- Popularising your research in a way that is interesting and understandable to the media or your stakeholders
- The twists and turns of social media and as well as the functions and styles of different platforms (and if you really need to be omnipresent)
- Participating in public debate as a researcher
- Building a researcher profile through communicative means
- Cooperation with traditional media: how to get the most important message of your research across
You can also ask sparring for other topics than the ones mentioned above as long as they are related to the communication or interaction of your project. We encourage you to book a sparring session without hesitation!
Book a sparring session by sending Johanna an email at johanna.osvath(a)nessling.fi and suggesting for a time. Title your message as “Booking a sparring session”. The sparring sessions may be held by phone, on Teams or on place at Puistokatu 4. The sparring sessions are maximum of an hour and a half.
NB: We may limit the number of sparring sessions if there are a lot of bookings.
Write for the Nessling Foundation blog
Is there a public topic that touches your expertise? Do you wish to deepen the discussion, take a stand or bring up a totally new viewpoint? Have you made an interesting discovery in your work? The Nessling Foundation blog offers researchers an expedient channel to participate the discussion. We will edit your text ready to be published and will also share it through the Foundation’s social media.
Writing a blog text that is targeted to the general public and easy to understand may help you restructure your own work and phrase it clearly. Blog texts are easy to share in social media or to refer to in presentations.
Read instructions on writing and sending a blog post. We will publish your text in about two weeks after it is ready.
Tell us about your work – we will share it on
Are you organising an event, is your work being published, is there an article on you in the media or did you write yourself in a publication targeted at the general public? Tell us about it! You can, for example, tag the Nessling Foundation in your social media post or send us an email directly. We share our grantees work on through our social media channels and our newsletter.
Ask for support for questions concerning project management, budgeting and using the grant
Nessling Foundation’s Grant and Administrative Coordinator Kristiina Takkinen will help our grantees with the administrative meanders of project management.
You can contact Kristiina by email, kristiina.takkinen(a)nessling.fi; by phone +358 50 5027 537; or by using the grant system E-Nessi. If you want to secure a certain time for a phone call, please send an email or SMS beforehand to agree on the time.
NB: Always use the grant system E-Nessi if you have questions about the funding and payments.
We are sparring the grantee applicants before and after the general grant call
As part of the Nessling Foundation’s impact work, we also support those who are yet only applying for funding from us.
A general grant call is organised yearly from August to September, and, during that time, we provide personal advice for all applicants about the project’s content, budgeting, administrative questions and the communications and interaction plan. In addition, we give feedback on the application for those applicants who want it and who did not get funding.
More information on help for applying for funding on the general grant call website.
What is missing from the list?
We would love to receive feedback on the Nessling Impact programme and we are happy to hear ideas on how to develop it. The programme development is under the responsibility of our Impact Specialist Enni Sahlman. You may send her an email or even ask her for a lunch. You can reach Enni by email enni.sahlman(a)nessling.fi or by calling +358 40 760 2541.
