iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 13h

Advertising me: my time at @fingo.fi ends soon so Jan- Aug 2027 I have time for consultancy. My areas are: global health policy, social policy and the financing of these things; lots of experience in programme design too. Special interests in demography, climate x health, wellbeing economies.

Picture shows Essi pointing at the global goal for health "Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages", which is on a colourful wheel showing all the 2030 global goals outside the UN building.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Would love to be a fly on the wall at Google HQ as they discuss this. "The Moomin People said -- what now? That we need to stop building in Finland... seriously? They, uh, ACTUALLY needed us to check if the squirrels were ok? We thought that was just banter." www.hs.fi/politiikka/a...

hs.fi

Datakeskukset | Viranomainen käskee Googlea keskeyttämään työt, Google lupaa korvata osan puista

Lupa- ja valvontaviranomainen LVV on antanut Googlen edustajille kehotuksen töiden keskeyttämisestä, kunnes ympäristövaikutusten arviointi on saatettu loppuun. Lisäksi se uhkaa uhkasakolla.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

My fave TV I see at the gym is the Finnish reality dating show “A Wife for Farmer Giles”. Rural loneliness is a real issue, so it’s policy relevant, but the details are amazing. Just watched one farmer pour wine glasses of fresh milk from his cows to the three ladies vying for his hand in marriage.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Is anyone here following the WHO Pandemic Agreement? I am trying to find out what happened with the pathogen annex last week but the WHO press release is clear as mud.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

So jealous of this. Finland has no such cat distribution system, you have to fill out detailed 6 page application forms on your offer of homelife to a specific cat at a shelter. I was getting no replies so handed the job to my 13 year old. Suddenly - well no cat, but at least an acknowledgment… 1/2

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Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

There’s a lot that’s disgusting here but what stuck with me is the indignity of the visitors having to prove their bona fides to a puffed-up mediocrity like councillor Madgwick to gain his and the mob’s consent to stay in a hotel.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

It's very much worth reading this open letter re: Cofnas in its entirety; it addresses the issues around Cofnas and why he has been suspended, and where those issues do and don't relate to the notion of academic freedom.

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Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

As I recall this started as a photoshopped joke but the bus company was amused and changed the route number to 925 to make it true.

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Qagggy! @qagggy.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

UK transit nerds are next level.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Trying to explain Count Binface to my boss, who is a Finnish political affairs expert, for I am a fool.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I was remembering a flare up on X or this place in the past about how Swedish parents don't feed their kids friends, to the general horror of the internet. But I wonder what people would really have us do. A 🧵about my evening just now and how I responded to the issue of kids needing to be fed. 1/n

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Suomi BlueSky hox! Aika kiva reitti tämä. Kemijärvestä Portugalin asti junalla.

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Mark Elliott @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Just noticed a charming detail on the hoodies: their logo features a library, and a university library at that (the Radcliffe Camera, to be precise, which is a reading room for the Bodleian). I'm sure those two gentlemen spend lots of time in libraries, and are staunch defenders of academic freedom.

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Fingo @fingo.fi · 04/06/2026

Kansainvälisessä terveydessä pätevät epäreilut säännöt, kirjoittaa asiantuntijamme Essi Lindstedt Turun Sanomissa. ”Eteläafrikkalaiset tiedemiehet tunnistivat ja jakoivat omikronvariantin genomisekvenssitietoja COVID-19-pandemian aikana, mutta maa oli silti yksi viimeisistä rokotteiden saajista." 1

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Does anyone here know why the UK government abstained on the vote about the new global treaty on gig work? It should be core for a Labour govt; agreement to support the rights of people in gig work, the platform economy etc like Uber, Deliveroo. www.hrw.org/news/2026/06...

hrw.org

ILO Adopts Landmark Treaty on Gig Work

The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) adoption of a new global treaty for decent working conditions in the gig economy is a major step toward protecting the rights of millions of workers world...

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David Mac Dougall @davidmacdougall.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Very happy to have my first article (and photographs) in The Sunday Times @thetimes.com this weekend: writing about bilberry barons, cloudberry cartels and the corporate human trafficking at the dark heart of the berry-picking industry in #Finland 🇫🇮🫐 share.google/q11m0WS6tERD...

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Absolutely epic news breaking today in Finland about a berry cartel price rigging wild berries for 10 years. Can’t wait. These a-holes have exploited migrant berry pickers so often and for so long. And berries so iconic in Finnish culture. Corrupt AF. www.hs.fi/visio/art-20...

hs.fi

Marjakartelli | Suomessa paljastui 10 vuotta pyörinyt suuri marjakartelli

Kilpailu- ja kuluttajavirasto paljasti kartellin, joka määritteli puolukan, mustikan ja lakan hankintahintoja. Kartelli toimi kymmenen vuoden ajan.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

The community rules are written in English but you know you are in Finland:

Site content includes safer space guidelines, accessibility, chat discussion rules, and, er, sauna practices.

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Katri Bertram @katribertram.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

With my UHC Accelerator “hat” on, fresh off the press in BMJ Public Health: bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/bmjp...

bmjpublichealth.bmj.com

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Ilmastoisovanhemmat @ilmastoisov.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Ilmastoisovanhemmat rollaattorimarssilla 8.5.2026, kooste. youtube.com/shorts/3S03z...

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

basically just hanging out here drinking my coffee and watching @lewisbaston.bsky.social skeet the UK local election results with instant insight and I don’t know he does it but this feels fun.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Struggling to understand what the Finnish govt is up to with the spring budget. Out-of-pocket expenditures for health will increase - higher contributions each time you visit the health centre or have a procedure. But there is more financial support for people taking work trips by car. 🤷‍♀️1/2

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Lowering the tone of BlueSky again but my only response to this is yes, I am absolutely sure that Princess Diana accompanied George Michael to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, disguised as a young man. If it's not true, I really don't need to know.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

When people ask me if Finland is panicking about the security situation, I might send them this in the future.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

More cases to test Elliott’s law of trams. The new 1200 metre Crown Bridge opened today in Helsinki To pedestrians and at 5pm to cyclists. Will be a spectacular tram ride over the sea joining the east bay to downtown Helsinki. @thatmarkelliott.bsky.social

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A Jean Stevenson @amandajean.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Arguing we need more babies because more population = more ideas means you'd rather sacrifice women's autonomy than figure out how to help everyone participate fully in society. Because there are definitely people living now who are prohibited from contributing to your precious "ideas."

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Lauren Dobson-Hughes @ldobsonhughes.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Once again, we did not invent concepts like international law and rules of engagement because we’re woke pansy wimps We developed them because we learned the very worst way, that even the strongest are less safe without them

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Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Board of peace chair setting out his stall...

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Jenn Dowd @drjenndowd.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Wise words from *Dr* Guzzo: “We spent decades shaming women for having kids under the wrong circumstances, for not having their ducks in a row,” said Ms. Guzzo, the demographer. “Now they are holding up their end of the bargain.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/u... @karenguzzo.bsky.social #demography

nytimes.com

The Birthrate Is Plunging. Why Some Say That’s a Good Thing.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

By contrast in Finland: the Development Minister disproportionally cut the Trade Union Solidarity Center’s funding yesterday afternoon and it is front page news today. Finland is not perfect but we still trust each other enough to argue about things.

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

‘When Adam Smith wrote “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner but from their regard to their own interest,” he omitted any discussion of the unpaid work of his mother (& later his sister) that went into cooking his dinner.’ on.ft.com/4olyOut

on.ft.com

What we still get wrong about women’s role in global economics

From the Enlightenment to today’s ‘tradwives’, three books look at the tension between production and reproduction

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

I’m in Doha for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. If you are too, see you in that building? Media release with our key messages from @fingo.fi here (in Finnish 🇫🇮). Basically, (1) equality and human rights in social policy and (2) investment. #WSSD2025 #WSSD2 fingo.fi/ajankohtaist...

Essi outside Qatar National Convention Centre where the Second World Summit for Sustainable Development will take place.

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Karen Benjamin Guzzo @karenguzzo.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

This is my central concern: that low birth rates, and the ensuing population panic, is just a cover to convince people that it's reasonable to support pronatalism, when really it's only nominally about raising birth rates and really about (re)creating a gender/race-ethnic/religious/etc hierarchy.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Facebook keeps recommending me pages from the US Dept of Labor, and I have to admit, I am grimly fascinated.

US dept of Labor Facebook ad featuring a Ladybird book style image of a 1940s style white family in a church.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

The most regular people who work in the office are the CEO (works mostly through people) the 3 interns (keen to learn) and me (new, sociable). The knowledge workers stay home and make output. But I wonder how someone likes me, whose motivation comes from supporting the whole team to rise, fits in.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

“Woke liberati arty farty,” is such an extraordinary thing in a sentence about politics, I can’t get over it. Like she’s running out of battery and will blow a few raspberries then power down.

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Tero Kuittinen @teroterotero.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

These were the candy flavors of my childhood: ammonium chloride, menthol, tar and anise. Being a Finnish child meant having to choose between tar and anise. It was grim af. Somebody slapped you if you asked for pomegranate flavor.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

If the goal is stable and productive societies, we need investment in social security, health coverage and decent work. We will re-state the case for social development and equality in an era of geopolitics. It was a joy to speak with Clarisse Sih about the upcoming world #SocialSummit -#WSSD2.

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Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

This is absolutely vicious.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

I could not love this article by @stephenkb.bsky.social more. 💯 to the key message of “stop trying to dick around with fertility and work with the world as it is”. And I LOVE this section⬇️. FYI Kenya is on track to publish shadow national accounts that include care. Ihttps://on.ft.com/4hvwZIT

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Every now and then something small reminds me of how long it is since I left Britain. (Sits in my retina-searing Finnish apartment which is also an anteroom for my special circle in Hell). I’m not offended, just interested in the cultural gap it highlights.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

1/4 My analysis and suggestions on social policy from a civil society perspective, for the UN World Summit on Social Development is here (happening in a few weeks, in Doha). In English, French, Spanish, Portuguese - language button top right corner. www.forus-international.org/en/pdf/fingo...

forus-international.org

Fingo Policy Brief on the Second World Summit for Social Development, in Doha, Qatar 4 -6 November 2025 | Forus

Find recommendations for governments, UN as well as civil society for the Second World Summit for Social Development.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Il laisse derrière lui un héritage complexe.

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

1/2 Yesterday I met someone who I thought was Ugandan but she was talking about Kenyans as "we" so I asked if she is also Kenyan. She said, no, she is fully Ugandan but she is also East African. "So when I talk about Kigali, I say here in Kigali, when Nairobi, I say here in Nairobi."

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Essi Lindstedt @essi-lindstedt.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Post you from a different era. Here I am, in 1992 in a deadline crisis. Which is very different to me in 2025, in a deadline crisis.

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