Sharıng Sweden wıth the world –
Welcome to the Swedısh Instıtute!
The Swedish Institute is a tool that enables Sweden to achieve its international objectives in foreign policy, development cooperation, and educational policy. A number of areas are involved – culture and society, education and research, business and innovation, democracy and global development. SI’s activities are run under the framework for public diplomacy – understanding, providing information to, influencing and developing relations with cultural, social and business communities, students and researchers, and the general public in other countries.
Through strategic communication and relationship-building activities, awareness about and trust in Sweden are enhanced, international networks are established and a positive environment is created so that Sweden’s international objectives can be realized. SI serves as a clear representative of Sweden and Swedish know-how, values and experiences abroad. Operations are run in close collaboration with Swedish embassies and consulates and with the help of other Swedish and foreign collaborative partners.
In 2009, SI carried out or provided financing for exchanges in 123 countries and engaged in information activities that reached over 220 countries.
“Swedısh Seeds” – desıgn for chıldren.
“Swedish Seeds” is an exhibition concept involving design for children which is touring internationally during the year. SI’s latest design exhibition is on Swedish products designed to provide children a safe, secure environment to grow up in with a focus on the important target group of children and their parents. Some 30 Swedish design companies demonstrate their know-how in creating a safe, secure everyday world in which play is an essential part of life.
Safety aspects are integral to the exhibition, given that Sweden is the safest country in the world to grow up in.
An exciting play area accompanies the exhibition to entertain the youngest visitors. There is also a unique reading corner for all the senses with Swedish children’s books translated into the local language.
You will find more information about “Swedish Seeds” under Current Projects.
“Swedısh Fashıon – Explorıng a New Identıty”.
“Swedish Fashion – Exploring a New Identity” shows thirteen young fashion designers who have helped to redefine the Swedish fashion scene with their strong individual expression. They belong to a generation that began attracting interest in a more conceptual and subjective approach to fashion around the turn of the millennium.
The exhibition is being shown in May in Shanghai and Beijing, and a selection of apparel is being used in a “fashion performance," choreographed by the world-renowned Chinese dancer Jin Xing, to celebrate Sweden’s National Day at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai on May 23.
You will find more information about Swedish Fashion under Current Projects.
SI ıs puttıng Sweden on the map.
SI shares Sweden with the world and generates interest and confidence in our country abroad, particularly in the spheres of culture and society, education and research, and business. If awareness about Sweden is high and if Sweden evokes immediate, relevant and positive associations, it will be easier for Sweden’s international policies to have an impact, for Swedish companies to do business and for Swedish culture to spread. We combine events that generate interest in Sweden in many different places around the world with active media efforts and global information operations that provide digital and published material.
An important part of our task is to create awareness about Sweden and about Swedish know-how and values through local events. Sweden’s official web portal, Sweden.se, offers essentially everything a visitor might want to know about Sweden – in many languages. Foreign media are provided services that include background material, royalty-free images from Image Bank Sweden, press kits and visitor programs.
SI is Sweden’s chief skills center in the work to identify and follow the image of Sweden abroad. Along with providing analyses of Sweden’s international image, SI also tracks Sweden’s position on relevant indices and how Sweden is reflected in the international media.
We market Sweden as a country to study and work ın and facılıtate ınternatıonal exchanges.
The promotion of Swedish higher education abroad and expanded exchanges of international expertise are important for Sweden and for the development and competitiveness of Swedish education. International contacts and experiences enrich and raise the quality of education and research.
SI’s scholarship program facilitates exchanges between Swedish students and researchers and their counterparts from other countries. Through Swedenintouch.se – Sweden’s official network for international students, academics and professionals – we try to make use of our experience and knowledge and help them keep up to date and in touch with Sweden and one another.
We also run Studyinsweden.se providing information about Sweden’s universities, practical facts about the application process, scholarships, visas, housing and information for learning Swedish as a foreign language.
Workinginsweden.se was launched in December 2009 at the request of the Ministry of Justice. This web portal is intended to attract labor from countries outside the EU to Sweden. The portal is part of a broad effort to meet the shortage of labor that the Swedish market faces over the next few decades.
“Vısual Voltage” – new perspectıves ın energy consumptıon.
"Visual Voltage” is part of our major exhibition on sustainability, “Facing the Future,” and is a collaboration between SI and the Interactive Institute. The exhibition presents a new approach to energy from the perspective of art and design.
Prototypes, concepts and installations created by Swedish designers and artists including Front Design and Nils Edwardsson invite visitors to experience energy in different forms, contemplate their energy consumption and be inspired to live energy-efficiently.
You will find more information about “Visual Voltage” under Current Projects.
SI establıshes ınternatıonal relatıonshıps and networks.
The Swedish Institute promotes international collaboration and sustainable global development by establishing relationships and networks with key people and institutions in a wide range of areas, and as a result promotes new collaborative efforts, exchanges and trade between Sweden and the rest of the world.
Students are a priority target group, and SI awards them a large number of scholarships each year. These provide international visitors coming to Sweden as well as Swedish students and researchers traveling abroad with an opportunity for exchanges with other countries and cultures. Some 60,000 people study Swedish and pursue in-depth studies on Sweden at over 206 institutions around the globe with funding from SI.
We also carry out leadership programs aimed at building active networks with key leaders of the future. The largest ones are the Swedish Institute’s Management Program for leaders in business and the public sector in Northern Europe, China and India and the Young Leaders Visitors Program for young opinion-makers in the Middle East and North Africa.
SI also provides funding for exchanges with developing countries in the field of culture and society. Collaborative projects often involve issues like freedom of expression, gender equality, the rights of children and sustainable development.
“Ingmar Bergman – The Man Who Asked Hard Questıons”.
The Swedish Institute has produced “The Man Who Asked Hard Questions,” an audiovisual exhibition. The title is a quotation from Woody Allen. The installation was inaugurated in conjunction with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) and Sweden’s consulate general in Los Angeles. Visitors encounter a unique universe with scenes from Bergman’s films, excerpts from interviews, behind-the-scenes shots, clips from documentaries, quotations from books, articles, reviews etc. Actors, people working in film, critics, students and imitators are presented. Some 40 of the director’s films are available in cinema format with English subtitles through SI.
You will find more information about the installation under Current Projects.
SI promotes creatıvıty, ınnovatıon and development.
The Swedish Institute promotes creativity, innovation and development in Sweden and our partner countries through international exchanges in culture and society, education and research, and business and innovation.
This is done especially through scholarships, leadership programs, funding for travel and projects and by generating interest among foreign students, researchers, experts, designers and key workers to work in Sweden for short or long periods.
These exchanges stimulate mobility and cross-pollination of knowledge, inspiration, skills and talent.
SI promotes democracy, human rıghts and sustaınable global development.
SI contributes to openness, sustainability and global development by promoting democracy, human rights and freedom of expression as well as by raising awareness and capacity in the fields of climate change and the environment.
In Sweden’s dialogue and collaboration with the rest of the world, SI has the specific task of promoting democracy, openness and development. As a small organization with a key role in Sweden’s public diplomacy, SI focuses here on working actively with communication and exchanges in other countries. Lasting relationships and mutual learning processes are created through meetings, education and cultural experiences. The aim is for us in this way to strengthen democracy, freedom of expression, gender equality and respect for human rights. The Swedish Institute’s activities and know-how in collaborative efforts for development are also very much in line with Sweden’s priority themes – democracy and human rights, gender equality and the role of women in development as well as climate change and the environment.
SI’s collaborative efforts to promote development are carried out using a unique combination of tools – projects, communication, media and study visits, scholarships, network building, leadership programs and exchanges in the field of culture and society – which interact in various ways to achieve a greater impact.
“Eco Chıc – Towards Sustaınable Swedısh Fashıon”.
The exhibition “Eco Chic – Towards Sustainable Swedish Fashion” presents clothing from Swedish fashion designers like Nudie, Camilla Norrback and Filippa K, who work to develop an ecological and ethical fashion alternative.
There is an uncomfortable truth behind the appealing exterior of our clothing, but there are alternatives to today’s environmentally harmful apparel. Through this exhibition, we want to present Swedish fashion designers whose work is environmentally aware and ethically minded, without compromising on fashion.
You will find more information about “Eco Chic” under Current Projects.
We are experts on Sweden’s ınternatıonal ımage and ıntercultural communıcatıon.
The Swedish Institute is the Government’s main operator and center of know-how in the work to identify and clarify the image of Sweden abroad as well as in intercultural communication.
Globalization makes our work more important than ever – if Sweden evokes immediate, relevant and positive associations and has developed networks around the world, it will be easier for Swedish international policies to have an impact, for Swedish companies to do business, and for Swedish culture to spread. It will be easier for Sweden to take part in international collaborative efforts and carry on a dialogue with the rest of the world about the opportunities and challenges of the future.
SI provides the results of the studies we conduct and the intelligence we gather to a large number of opinion-molders, decision-makers and experts as well as interested members of the general public on a continuous basis. More people will be able to benefit from the valuable knowledge about and understanding of Sweden’s image that we offer. SI’s role as a center for know-how has also been enhanced with an extensive range of courses, lectures and communication material. Each year, SI publishes a report on Sweden’s international image – a compilation of how other countries view Sweden in a number of different areas. Other reports and studies are published and posted regularly here at si.se as well as distributed through seminars, lectures and mailings.
Our operatıons are run under the framework for publıc dıplomacy.
Our operations are run under the framework for public diplomacy – understanding, providing information to, influencing and developing relations with cultural, social and business communities, students and researchers, and the general public in other countries.
Through strategic communication and relationship-building activities, awareness about and trust in Sweden are enhanced, international networks are established and a positive environment is created so that Sweden’s international objectives can be realized.
SI serves as a clear representative of Sweden and of Swedish know-how, values and experiences abroad. Operations are run in close collaboration with Swedish embassies and consulates and with the help of other Swedish and foreign collaborative partners.
Creatıve Force: modern collaboratıon on development.
The aim of Creative Force – Cultural and Visionary Encounters Africa–Sweden is to help promote an open, democratic gender-equal society and enhance the power of poor people, increase their influence and improve their opportunities through cultural exchanges. The project is focused largely on women, children and young adults in western and eastern Africa (Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda). A number of activities are linked to these sub-projects in the form of seminars and contributions from experts as well as study programs for key people to visit Sweden.
We have also been running projects under Creative Force in the western Balkans and Turkey since mid-2009.
SI ın Parıs – Sweden’s only cultural center abroad.
The Swedish Institute in Paris is a department of SI and Sweden’s only cultural center abroad. The center is an active meeting place for Swedish-French relations in culture, science, and social life and is visited by over 100,000 people each year.
In addition to exhibitions, film viewings, concerts and much more, the center houses the Tessin collection and premises for instruction in Swedish.
SI in Paris also provides conference facilities and housing for visiting Swedish researchers and for cultural workers in creative industries.
Swedish courses at SI are greatly appreciated – over 200 French people study Swedish each week at SI in Paris.
You will also find the popular Café Suédois in the center’s courtyard, which tempts visitors with home-made Swedish specialties.
SI’s Management Programs – networks for leaders of the future
Today’s global business climate demands leaders that are able to quickly handle new conditions for their organization’s operations and standing. People are expected to navigate between local and global markets while strong networks have become a critical competitive factor.
Since 2007, at the request of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, we have been running the Swedish Institute’s Management Program under the theme “successful entrepreneurship through corporate social responsibility.” The program offers advanced business-related problem-solving and company visits as well as seminars and meetings with prominent leaders in business, culture and politics.
The participants are young stars at senior management levels in their industry. They have a strong international focus and considerable education. Participants come from China, India, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Sweden.
The aim of the program is to develop lasting, active networks with future leaders at the executive level who together can strengthen relations and collaboration in business between the countries taking part.
You will find more information about our leadership program under Scholarships and Exchanges.
Young Leaders Vısıtors Program – leaders for posıtıve change.
The Young Leaders Visitors Program (YLVP) for young journalists and opinion-makers in the Middle East and North Africa is an intercultural leadership program focused on social media as a tool for dialogue. The participants work actively for social development in their respective fields.
The latest initiative in the project is the Social Media Café – a forum for the exchange of ideas, inspiration and know-how on location in the Middle East. The café is touring 12 different places in the MENA region in 2010.
You will find more information about YLVP under Scholarships and Exchanges.
Over 50,000 people study Swedısh abroad.
SI has overall responsibility for the funding of teaching Swedish abroad and serves as a contact and service organization for teachers of Swedish and their students abroad. In 2009, 50,588 students at over 216 foreign institutions in 39 countries studied Swedish with funding from SI.
43 teachers at 22 universities in 22 countries received funding from SI.
You will find more information about Swedish language studies abroad under Swedish Language Studies on this website.
Events