Anna-Kaisa Hiltunen, acting Managing Editor and Head of Research Communications at FIIA, received the award for her book Euroopan porteilla (’At the gates of Europe’). The State Award for Public Information was awarded to her during the prize award ceremony on October 13th, 2020.
Hiltunen’s book is the first work of non-fiction about the history and background of EU’s asylum policy written in the Finnish language. The book elaborates on the role of EU’s member-states and various EU organs in European asylum policy.
The Committee for Public Information gave the following motivation for the award: ‘’Euroopan porteilla lives up to its name and provides a fact-based overview of the historical and the modern state of European asylum policy.’’
‘’It is great that such an important and debated topic receives attention through this award, especially because the discussion surrounding the theme is often not based on facts. My hope is that this award reminds us about the importance of fact-based discussion.’’, Hiltunen states.
The state award for public information is an annual recognition bestowed by The Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) based on the proposition of the Committee for Public Information. The award is a recognition for a significant topical or a long-term commitment to a major information publication work in various areas of science, arts and technology or information that has contributed to societal debate and citizen’s knowledge. The Committee for Public Information is an MEC’s expert committee that follows the achievements in various areas of science, arts and technology both nationally and internationally.
