At the Civil Society Academy, we strengthen dialogue and mutual understanding to promote democracy and people’s well-being through collaboration between public administration and civil society.

The Civil Society Academy is a concept and model developed as part of the Open Government initiative. In practice, it takes the form of an annual Civil Society Academy event, aimed primarily at public sector employees. The objective of the event is to strengthen public officials’ understanding of the diverse roles and activities of civil society organisations.

Civil Society Academy events are also organised regionally through cooperation between cities and municipalities, wellbeing services counties, and civil society organisations. To date, regional events have been held in Oulu, Jyväskylä and Vaasa.

The internationally recognised Civil Society Academy has been organised in partnership with civil society organisations from the very beginning. The following organisations are involved in organising and developing the national Civil Society Academy:

The next national Civil Society Academy will be held on 17 March 2027. This will be the tenth edition of the event. The event, hosted at Helsinki City Hall and streamed via the Helsinki Channel, is open to everyone and free of charge.

The Open Government Team at the Ministry of Finance supports the planning and implementation of new regional Civil Society Academies. Civil Society Academies are also part of the programme of the Open Democracy Network.

The Civil Society Academy has been organised since 2020. Topics discussed at the events have included the role of civil society organisations in democracy, building trust, and strengthening society’s resilience in times of crisis.

In recent years, the Civil Society Academy has consisted of two parts. The morning programme has featured presentations and discussions on timely and important issues with a range of engaging guest speakers. In the afternoon, participants have applied the National Dialogues model and engaged in deeper discussions inspired by the themes and insights raised during the morning sessions.