About Helsinki
Helsinki is small enough to walk and varied enough to be worth walking. The city sits on the Baltic Sea and keeps green space within reach of almost every address.
Its architecture is part of the appeal. Art Nouveau streets, contemporary landmarks and the work of Alvar Aalto all stand within the same few square kilometres. UNESCO named Helsinki a City of Design in 2014, and the title still describes how the place looks and works.
The summit takes place in one of Aalto’s best-known buildings, Finlandia Hall, on the shore of Töölönlahti Bay in the centre of the city. Museums, cafés, restaurants and public saunas lie close by, so a day at the conference sits comfortably inside a longer Nordic city break.
Travel
Direct flights connect Helsinki with most major European cities and with hubs further afield.
From the airport
Helsinki Airport (HEL) lies about 30 minutes from the centre. Trains run every few minutes to Helsinki Central Station, and buses and taxis take roughly the same time.
Around the city
You can cross the centre on foot in half an hour. Trams, buses and the metro reach everywhere else on a single ticket.
The venue
Finlandia Hall stands in parkland on the shore of Töölönlahti Bay, a few minutes’ walk from Helsinki Central Station and from many of the city’s hotels and restaurants.
Alvar Aalto designed the building and clad it in white Carrara marble. It opened in 1971 and reopened in January 2025 after a three-year renovation.
Evening dinner, by invitation
The dinner is by invitation and takes place at Lapland Hotels Bulevardi, a short walk from the centre.
The hotel draws on Lapland for its design and its cooking. The menu is built around northern ingredients, including reindeer, game, and wild mushrooms.