The background

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. The following day, Finland ran out of iodine tablets. Fear of a nuclear war and Russia’s attack on Finland spread among Finns. Finland, a small country with more than 1300 km of border with Russia has a traumatic history of being invaded by the Soviet Union in WW2. The war in Ukraine brought an acute crisis into the lives of Finns.

The Challenge

Since the state is only as functional as its citizens,  the Prime Minister's Office tasked us to find ways to support and strengthen Finns’ psychological resilience during the crisis.

The insight and strategy

According to the experts, the first step in the recovery of any kind of crisis is to understand our emotions. The experience of being heard and seen is an important factor in maintaining psychological resilience. The second step is to get concrete advice on how to overcome those emotions. 

Our strategy focused on enhancing Finns’ ability to live their normal lives during the crisis. To achieve this, we created a platform designed to get hope and understanding that people’s emotions are normal humane reactions via self-reflection. By helping its citizens this way, the Finnish state also functions better despite the abnormal period of time.

The idea 

Originally, we created The Museum of Contemporary Emotions in October 2021. It was the world's first museum dedicated to coping with emotions caused by the pandemic. 

This time round we needed it to help people cope with their emotions caused by the war  as well.  We brought the best experts together to solve one task – to restore Finns’ faith for the future. 

The Museum is widely used in schools and organizations to engage people in self-reflection. This exceptional knowledge strengthens Finland as a nation, helping to cope with any kind of crisis.

Experts use the Museum to talk about the psychological impact of the war in Ukraine, the climate crisis or COVID-19 in the media.