Future-proofing sustainable news brands in the sustainability capital of Europe

Transforming digital

Sustaining journalism

Diversifying revenue

Battling misinformation

Change and progress are always in the air in Helsinki.

A capital city of innovative art, unique culture, luscious cuisine, and modern architecture.

A country known for saunas, archipelagos, igloos, parks, and wooden houses.

And at the intersection of change and progress is a green building revolution that puts sustainability atop Finland’s agenda.

Step onto the streets of Helsinki in late September, and the crisp autumn wind tartly reminds you of the change in seasons. Take in the “everyman’s right” to stroll, breathe with nature, and know you are in a city and country so different than others.

Helsinki inspires.

INMA’s Media Innovation Week aims to step back … and connect with the Finnish ethos.

Embrace the changing winds of news media with a new generation of media leaders. Fresh voices devoid of legacy seeking to elevate and amplify journalism. To inject meaning and purpose into news brands. In a community and sweet spirit that only INMA can deliver.

Media Innovation Week in Helsinki consists of two parts:

Conference: Absorb unscripted, interactive presentations and discussions on the hottest media subjects in Europe today: subscriptions, product, newsroom transformation, generative AI, and commerce.
Study tour: Across two days, we will visit the leading Finnish news media companies and peer into how they are progressively growing audience, revenue, and brand.

The 2024 Helsinki Media Innovation Week marks the 51st time that European colleagues have gathered under the INMA banner. Since 1971, INMA has delivered a distinctive European media conversation through an annual European News Media Conference. We added a study tour component in 2015 – with great passion for deep dives into local media scenes.

Change. Progress. Fresh voices. See you at INMA Helsinki – where sustainability (media and otherwise) will be front and centre.

Paul Brandenfeldt

Head of Sales
Bonnier News
Sweden

Georg Burtscher

Managing Director
Russmedia
Austria

Trine Eilertsen

Publisher
Aftenposten
Norway

Tomasz Gavel

Managing Director Paid Content
Ringier Axel Springer Polska
Poland

Stephanie Grönke

Career & Leadership Coach

Anton Gunnarsson Molin

Head of sales and Strategist — Digital Media
VK Media
Sweden

Cathrine Gyldensted

Journalist; Founder, Constructive Journalistic Methods & Media Entrepreneur

Denmark

Jakob Halm

Product Manager Testing & Growth
Der SPIEGEL
Germany

Max Holscher

Editor-in-Chief Digital
NWZ Medien
Germany

Laura Hyvärinen

Head of Marketing for Helsingin Sanomat
Sanoma Media Finland
Finland

Roman Imielski

Deputy Editor In Chief of Gazeta Wyborcza
Agora
Poland

Farhad Khalil-Gossow

Chief Product & Revenue Officer
Funke
Germany

Matthias Kiechle

Chief Digital Officer
Südkurier Medienhaus,
Germany

Nadia Kohler

Head Product Management Content Development & Head AI Lab
Tamedia
Switzerland

Ina Kreutz Pauli

Strategic Key Account Manager
Amedia
Norway

Annie Lidesjö

Head of Operations and People
NTM
Sweden

JC Lopez

Director of Data and AI
Schibsted Media
Norway

Lee Martin

Head of Marketing & Promotions
Irish Independent, Mediahuis
Ireland

Richard Mertens

Stv. Head of Transformation & Teamlead Audience Development
Funke
Germany

Amalie Nash

Newsroom Transformation Initiative, Lead
INMA
USA

Katharina Neubert

VP Strategy & Investments
Holtzbrinck Publishing Group
Germany

Nils Olauson

Editorial Director
NTM
Sweden

Arian Okhovat Alavian

Founder
PANTA RHAI
Europe

Dipti Patel

Publisher Development Director
The Ozone Project
UK

Daniela Parr

Head of Campaigning Product + Sales
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Germany

Greg Piechota

Readers First Initiative, Lead
INMA
UK

Jovan Protic

COO
Ringier Axel Springer Polska
Poland/USA

Maren Qvale

Head of SEO and Affiliate
VG
Norway/USA

Tore G.C. Rich

Generative AI Product Manager
JP/Politiken
Denmark

Fabian Rosekeit

Head of CRM & Growth
Medien hub Bremen-Nordwest
Germany

Maria Sakki

Data Lead Analyst
Financial Times (FT)
United Kingdom

Florian Schiller

Managing Director
OVB Media
Germany

Johannes Skov Andersen

Digital Storytelling Editor
Politiken
Denmark

Jenni Smith

Social Media Manager & IL-palat Producer
Alma Media
Finland

Helje Solberg

News Director
NRK
Norway

Monika Sveen

Strategic Adviser
Amedia
Norway

Tuomas Syrjänen

Co-founder, AI Renewal and Member of the Board
Futurice
Finland

Kamran Ullah

Chief-Editor
De Telegraaf
The Netherlands

Bernd Volf

CTO & CPO
Ringier
Switzerland

Chealsea Wierbonski

Group Product Manager
Google News
Switzerland

Earl Wilkinson

CEO
INMA
USA

Robert Zilz

Head of Data
KStA
Germany

Punctuate your INMA Media Innovation Week experience with the flavours of Helsinki: the capital of the happiest country in the world.

Helsinki is a smart, stable, and compact city that is known for its unique combination of urban culture and the calm of nature. The city cherishes its open, participatory culture that is a source for its innovative and creative atmosphere. The people of Helsinki constantly aim at doing things a bit better each time, and believe in promoting a more sustainable way of life – for everyone.

Helsinki is the most northern of continental European capitals and the most eastern of all Nordic capitals. Helsinki – being Nordic like Oslo, Stockholm, and Copenhagen – is often overlooked by media executives, yet it has a vibrant media scene worthy of hosting INMA’s annual Media Innovation Week. We’ll visit companies that lead the industry in multiple aspects of our industry — not least in digital subscriptions. Companies like Alma Media, Sanoma Media, and KsF media, Yle, MTV, among others. A quick search in INMA’s Best Practices Archive will show you just how innovative Finnish media companies are.

And if that isn’t enough reason, here are a few general statistics on Finland: Finns’ trust in other people is the highest in Europe (Eurobarometer, 2018), Finland is second in the world for freedom of the press (World Press Freedom Index, 2021), Finland ranks second in the world in the Sustainable Travel Index (Euromonitor, 2021), Helsinki is the fourth healthiest capital in Europe (treated.com, 2020).

Amid the most beautiful scenery in Helsinki stands Little Finlandia, a brand-new, unique, “glass-and-wood” event centre. It invites you to enjoy experiences and draw inspiration from surrounding Töölönlahti Bay to boost your creativity and mood to a whole new level. The unique atmosphere of Little Finlandia is created from classic Finnish design: open, light, and natural materials. The architecture of the building is a unique, modern wooden venue that respects nature and its special environment in a sustainable and beautiful way.

In Little Finlandia, responsibility and sustainability are not just words on paper. They are the cornerstones and concrete deeds for a better tomorrow. Everything they do is certified as committed to responsible goals: environmental, societal, economical, and with people's well-being in mind. More here.

“It’s packed with insights, and there’s always something useful for someone from different areas of media operation. Great takeaways all around, and even for a media person like me who works directly in the field.”

“It was my first time at an INMA event and it was a blast! Not only because of the exciting topics and the speaker. It was special about the spirit – so open-minded and cool.”

“Atmosphere and willingness to share experiences. INMA-team & organisation also around the event: with passion & love, always knowing what participants need/want.”

“Super great for networking and talking to people you know and meeting new people. Overall wonderful again. And the museum venue was outstanding.”

“Interesting workshops, relevant presentations, great networking opportunities, good timing. A very positive experience overall, and you actually get something concrete out of the conference. Thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend.”

“Excellent, varied, presentations, wide-ranging expertise from people around the world. Formats were also really effective with daily takeaways very useful.”