Reports

This policy brief was prepared as part of the OECD's Resourcing Higher Education Project. This wider project aims to provide a shared knowledge base for OECD member and partner countries on policy for higher education resourcing, drawing on system-specific and comparative policy analysis. The policy brief for Finland was developed at the request of the Finnish authorities to support reflection on possible adjustments to the public funding model for Finnish higher education for the funding period (2025-28). The brief reviews the key challenges facing higher education in Finland and national policy priorities, compares Finland’s model of funding higher education institutions (HEIs) with models in OECD systems sharing similar characteristics to Finland’s and reviews policy options – both within and outside of the funding model – to support achievement of key policy objectives.

Governments are increasingly utilising research and innovation (R&I) policy to foster economic and societal change. Yet, the empirical correlation between these policies and socio-technical transformations remains under-explored. The report investigates this relationship by comparing the Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) of Austria, Finland and Sweden, initiated under the NextGenerationEU framework post Covid-19. The report finds significant disparities in the content, process and transformative value of the RRPs among these countries. The differences in the content of the national RRPs, and the ability and willingness to seize the opportunity presented by the RRPs to drive transformation, are explained by existing national policy contexts and frameworks. Surprisingly, the role of R&I policy in the RRPs is less important than expected, despite its emphasised importance in literature and political rhetoric. The report further identifies implications for a transformative innovation policy as well as areas for further research.

This paper investigates the demand for language skills using data on online job vacancies in 27 European Union member countries and the United Kingdom in 2021. Evidence indicates that although Europe remains a linguistically diverse labour market, knowing English confers unique advantages in certain occupations. Across countries included in the analyses, a knowledge of English was explicitly required in 22% of all vacancies and English was the sixth most required skill overall. A knowledge of German, Spanish, French and Mandarin Chinese was explicitly demanded in between 1% and 2% of all vacancies. One in two positions advertised on line for managers or professionals required some knowledge of English, on average across European Union member countries and across OECD countries in the sample. This compares with only one in ten positions for skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers and among elementary occupations.

Finland has set one of the most ambitious climate targets in the world, a legal obligation to reach carbon neutrality by 2035. It has made notable progress towards this target, deploying the first new nuclear reactor in Europe in over 15 years and strongly expanding wind generation. Thanks to the progress Finland has made on its clean energy transition, the country has the second lowest share of fossil fuels in its energy supply among IEA members. It is also reducing its reliance on Russian energy imports and ensuring energy security by increasing imports from other countries, raising domestic renewable energy production and improving energy efficiency. Despite these notable successes in clean energy and energy security, significant challenges remain. Imported fossil fuels still account for over a third of the energy supply while some areas of the Finnish economy, such as transport and key industrial activities, remain dependant on fossil fuels. Also, land use change and forestry in Finland, which have historically offset a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, became a net source of emissions for the first time in 2021. In this report, the IEA provides a range of energy policy recommendations to help Finland smoothly manage the transition to a secure, efficient and flexible carbon neutral energy system.

Drawing on the OECD Well-being Framework, this paper outlines the state of well-being outcomes in Finland and identifies strengths, weaknesses and trends compared to other OECD countries. Overall, Finland is an established international leader in well-being and sustainability. Six key insights highlight the several challenges for well-being that remain in Finland and should be addressed in a comprehensive, balanced and inclusive way. These insights have been identified by considering economic, social, and environmental outcomes – and inequalities in these – simultaneously, to highlight the type of policy-relevant findings that arise when applying a well-being approach to measuring progress.

Schools are perfect hubs for social and emotional learning, but are they ready for this task? To address this question, this Spotlight reports previously unpublished findings from the OECD’s Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) and discusses their implications for education policy and practice. Both an active promotion in schools and extensive learning opportunities for teachers on relevant topics provide a fertile ground for an effective social and emotional education. They boost teachers’ self-efficacy and use of active learning pedagogies, as well as quality relationships at school. The Spotlight also points to important differences for teachers of 10- vs. 15-year-old students that can explain higher skills at a younger age. Younger students benefit more often from key elements of an effective social and emotional education in school, i.e. the evaluation of their social and emotional skills and teachers teaming up with parents to reinforce skill promotion. Teachers of 10-year-olds are also more intensively trained and requested to promote social and emotional learning in their work.