Finns believe crisis gives boost to science

Finnish think tank Sitra said on Wednesday a majority of Finns believe that their post-COVID-19 society will attach more importance to science and expertise and will witness heightened social tension and conflicts on economic interests, reported Xinhua.

The conclusions are based on a poll published on Wednesday. In it, 37 percent of Finns said they would like to see more power given to the experts. Less than 20 percent of respondents said that people would become more interested in personally participating in political activities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. But one third of those aged between 15 and 24 years held the opposite view.

The overall appreciation of political parties has declined, while confidence in the government, the president, the parliament and the media appears to have grown, Sitra said.

Antti Kivela, a director at Sitra, noted in a press release on Wednesday that based on the poll's findings, Finns want the decisions about their future to be "based on researched information."

Kalle Nieminen, a leading expert at Sitra, told Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet that Finland should not waste the opportunities offered by the COVID-19 epidemic. "A crisis situation can give a country unique opportunities to make decisions about its future," Nieminen commented.

The poll of about 4,000 individuals was conducted in May. Sitra is a leading Finnish think tank operating on a capital initially donated by the state in 1967.