The Finnish National Gallery has a multi-generational objective to strengthen Finnish cultural heritage and promote artistic civilization. This obligates us to influence the society, within which we are to strengthen humanism, act sustainably and increase tolerance.

Our task, as given by law, is to maintain and expand the Finnish National Gallery’s collection, to organize exhibitions and other art museum activities, and to participate in the development of the museum industry.

  • The Finnish National Gallery follows good governance in its operations.
  • We are an active player in copyright and intellectual property rights fields.
  • Transparency, which is one of our values, is guided in part by the Publicity Act.
  • The operations of the Finnish National Gallery withstand ethical, legal, administrative and operational scrutiny.
  • Please report any suspicions of misconduct anonymously via our whistleblowing channel.

Social Responsibility

The Finnish National Gallery is an art museum for everyone. We work to ensure that experiencing art is not hindered by social, cultural, physical, economic or regional starting points. Our museum buildings and online services comply with Finnish accessibility requirements.

Our operation is based on the values of the Finnish National Gallery: together, openly, expertly. We have zero tolerance for harassment, discrimination and inappropriate behavior. The principles for a safer space are applied at our premises.

Ecological Responsibility

The Green Handprint is our environmental program. It makes sustainable development a permanent part of The Finnish National Gallery’s operations. We encourage our staff, stakeholders and museum visitors to make eco-friendly and environmentally sound choices. Our goal is to make Finnish National Gallery carbon-neutral by 2035.

The National Gallery’s Green Handprint programme has made sustainability an integral and permanent part of our operations. The programme encourages our staff, stakeholders and museum visitors to take ecological action and make environmentally responsible choices. Our goal is to make the Finnish National Gallery carbon-neutral by 2035.

The Green Handprint programme is built on ideas contributed by our staff. Through workshops with different professional groups, we received more than 1,300 suggestions on how to reduce the environmental impact of our activities. These ideas were then distilled into key objectives and an action plan.

The Green Handprint has been part of the Finnish National Gallery’s strategy since 2020. Experimentation and learning are central aspects of the programme. Our Green Handprint is made of big and small actions for the environment. We celebrate every step forward.

Our actions within the Green Handprint programme

We calculated the Finnish National Gallery’s carbon footprint for the first time in 2019. Although it was not possible to measure all emissions, the process provided valuable insight into the changes we need to pursue. For instance, we found that approximately 70% of our measured emissions came from electricity consumption. In 2021, we switched to wind-generated electricity, which reduced our emissions by around one million kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.

Travel and Transportation

  • In 2024, we reduced emissions from business travel by an estimated 30% compared to 2019.
  • In 2024, we reduced emissions from our own truck transport compared to 2019: total mileage decreased by about 30%, and fossil fuels were replaced with biodiesel.
  • In 2020, we improved the efficiency of art transportation in collaboration with other museums in the capital region.
  • We encourage our staff to cycle to work whenever possible.

Museum Buildings

  • A total of 90 solar panels has been installed on the museum’s roof by Senate Properties. Their estimated annual output is about 30,000 kWh – roughly equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of fifteen one-bedroom flats.
  • We reduced our energy consumption by half between 2004 and 2020 by optimising air-conditioning systems.
  • We improved waste sorting and recycling at all three museums between 2020 and 2021.

Food

  • Since 2021, we have served only vegetarian and locally produced food at our own events.

Exhibitions

  • In 2024, we incorporated the Green Handprint into the Finnish National Gallery’s project handbook. This ensures that ecological sustainability is systematically considered in the planning of every project, including exhibitions.
  • All works in the Life Under Threat exhibition (2020) at the Sinebrychoff Art Museum were selected from collections located in geographically nearby areas. The exhibition has since served as an example of a project that avoided all emissions from international transport.
  • We have reduced our consumption of plastics by reusing packaging materials such as bubble wrap. Since 2020, we have informed our partners about this practice by marking the packaging with a Green Handprint label.

Museum Shop

  • We made ecological sustainability and transparency core principles in the design of the museum shop’s product range. The new approach was developed in consultation with experts from the EcoCompass environmental management system.
  • We provide customers with clear information about the origin, production and materials of our merchandise.

Staff and Advocacy

  • Between 2019 and 2022, we distributed our Green Handprint workshop model to around 2,600 museum professionals in Finland and abroad.
  • We provide sustainability training for our staff.
  • From 2021 to 2024, staff members could vote to recognise colleagues who had been most active in promoting sustainability, and the top nominees were awarded for their contribution.
  • We introduced flexible remote-working practices in 2020.

Guided by EcoCompass

An environmental programme must be both effective and measurable. Our entire organisation has therefore committed to the external EcoCompass environmental management system. Through EcoCompass we have made a formal environmental pledge and set measurable goals for our progress. The audit, roll-out, and certification of the programme took place in 2022. After the audit, the Finnish National Gallery was awarded the EcoCompass Certificate in December 2022.

Our environmental pledge

The management and staff of the Finnish National Gallery are committed to considering environmental impacts across all operations. We are implementing the Green Handprint programme, which aims to make the Finnish National Gallery carbon neutral by 2035. The goals will be pursued through the EcoCompass system.

During the next three-year period we will:
  • Calculate the Finnish National Gallery’s carbon dioxide emissions for 2025.
  • Develop a climate roadmap detailing how we will achieve our carbon neutrality target by 2035.
  • Continue to reduce emissions from transport and travel.
  • Encourage our staff, audiences and partners to act sustainably.

Financial Responsibility

The Finnish National Gallery’s funding and finances are completely transparent. Our certified financial statements including appendices and our activity report are public information. We have also updated our ethical guidelines for fundraising and private financing.

Regardless of the source of its funding, the Finnish National Gallery remains solely responsible for the content of its programmes, exhibitions and activities, as well as for acquisitions. Fundraising must not endanger the Finnish National Gallery’s autonomy. Funds raised are used to carry out the tasks referred to in the Finnish National Gallery Act.

Donations or other forms of support must not lead to a conflict of interest with the museum or its staff, volunteers or members of its governing body, nor create the appearance of such a conflict. The Finnish National Gallery accepts donations to the State of collections of art and other objects as defined in its collection policy.

Decisions to accept donations and financial support are made by the Finnish National Gallery’s Management Team after assessing the related financial implications and any potential ethical issues. Decisions made by Management Team are recorded in the Team’s minutes.

A report on the sources of the Finnish National Gallery’s funding and the conditions relating thereto is issued annually by the Director General and presented to a delegation appointed by the Ministry of Education and Culture to supervise the Finnish National Gallery’s operations, to the Finnish National Gallery Board and to the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The Finnish National Gallery governs responsibly the use of the funds it receives. Access to documents is governed by the current Act on the Openness of Government Activities.

Donations

Companies, societies and individuals can donate money to the Finnish National Gallery either through the online service or by bank transfer. Donations are charitable in nature. The use of donations received through fundraising is governed by the Money Collection Act and the fundraising permit issued to the Finnish National Gallery, which specifies the purpose of use of the raised funds and the general guidelines for the conduct of fundraising activities.

Other support and corporate partnerships

The Finnish National Gallery solicits and receives funds from foundations and other bodies that support art and culture, such as cultural institutions and embassies. The purpose of such funds, as well as the reporting of their use, is specified in the funding application. Such support can be charitable (a gift) or made for a consideration.

The Finnish National Gallery engages in corporate sponsorship. Corporate partnerships must not compromise the autonomy of the National Gallery in its programming or its other activities. The conditions for receiving funds are set out in writing so that all parties are aware of them.

Criteria for accepting support

In its fundraising and corporate collaboration, the Finnish National Gallery follows the same ESG principles as it does in its investment operations. The Gallery does not accept donations from or collaborate with organisations which operate or have operated in the recent past in industries such as oil and gas production, tobacco industry, weapons manufacturing or the production of environmentally hazardous chemicals.

Nor will the Finnish National Gallery accept support from entities on the Finnish Government’s sanctions list.

Moreover, the Finnish National Gallery does not collaborate with organisations or other bodies whose operations promote the oppression of minorities or human rights violations, authoritarian governance, gender inequality or criminal activities.

If the Finnish National Gallery has received financial support from a private individual or some other actor whose reputation or activities are subsequently called into question, the Gallery must consider whether this will have a negative impact on the museum and its credibility.

If the Executive Committee determines that the situation is in conflict with the Finnish National Gallery’s ethical principles, it may issue a public statement in which it explains the situation and possibly returns the financial support or suspends collaboration with the actor in question.

Ethical guidelines for fundraising and private funding are based on the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Code of Ethics for Museums and the 2020 ETHCOM Standards on Fundraising. A summary of the guidelines has been published on the website. The public documents of the National Gallery can be ordered from kirjaamo@kansallisgalleria.fi