The ETMU Award is granted annually at the ETMU Conference to recognize major contribution to the promotion and research of ethnic relations. The ETMU Award 2020 has been granted to Pasi Saukkonen on January 12, 2021.
Pasi Saukkonen is a scholar who has been actively participated in public debates, sharing, coordinating, and cooperating between academia, decision makers, and NGO’s. Saukkonen is the foremost expert in Finland on questions on integration and inclusion, and he is active in sharing his expertise and knowledge with the media.
Pasi Saukkonen is a political scientist working currently at the City of Helsinki Executive Office in the Urban Research and Statistics unit. Previously, he has been working as Senior Researcher and as the Director of The Finnish Foundation for Cultural Policy Research (Cupore) and in different positions at the University of Helsinki. He holds the title of Docent at the University of Helsinki (Political Science) and at the University of Jyväskylä (Cultural Policy). Saukkonen has published widely on nationalism and national identity, integration policies and politics in a multicultural society. During his career he has also done research on the Finnish political system, on politics and society in Belgium and in the Netherlands and on Finnish local and national cultural policy.
Pasi Saukkonen regularly popularizes scientific scholarship through his blog and other writings, media appearances, and by giving statements to policy makers. His Finnish blog writings were published in 2020 in his book Vimmainen maailma, published by the Migration Institute of Finland. He is a very active writer and his books are relevant to both academics and the general public alike. He also broadens the Finnish perspective to Europe and offers and enriches Finnish debates through European experiences and insights.
Pasi Saukkonen also has a history in ETMU. He was a member of the ETMU’s Board for several years and acted as a chair in 2008.