Riie Heikkilä wins the 2025 State Award for Public Information

Docent Riie Heikkilä, co-founder of Tampere Group for Sociology of Culture, receives the 2025 State Award for Public Information for her groundbreaking monograph, 'Miksi lakkasimme lukemasta?' (Why Did We Stop Reading?)

Minister of Science and Culture Mari-Leena Talvitie presented the awards on 13 June in Helsinki. She highlighted how important public information is for building deep understanding, especially in uncertain times.

The State Award for Public Information is Finland’s highest recognition for outstanding work in making knowledge accessible. Anyone can nominate a candidate. The Committee for Public Information reviews the nominations and proposes recipients to the Minister of Science and Culture.

The reasons for giving the award to Riie were presented as follows:

“The time spent reading is in decline. Riie Heikkilä does not simply sigh about the loss of a reading culture but asks: Why did we stop reading? She examines the phenomenon through the lens of societal structures, daily rhythms and cultural lifestyles. She amplifies the voices of those whose relationship with reading – and with culture in general – is conflicted, indifferent or even negative.

This is where the book’s great merit lies: we hear from the people we talk about.

The work offers an engaging and accessible perspective on the development of reading in Finland. Heikkilä draws from both historical statistics and a rich body of interviews collected for the book. The result is both methodologically robust and emotionally impactful: rigorous scientific research packaged in a way that appeals to a broad audience.”

More info at State Council’s website: https://valtioneuvosto.fi/-/1410845/tiedonjulkistamisen-valtionpalkinnot-kahdeksalle-palkitut-tekevat-nakymattomasta-nakyvaa?languageId=en_US

and at the press release by Tampere University: https://www.tuni.fi/en/news/riie-heikkila-gets-state-award-public-information-critical-book-reading-trends

Heartfelt congratulations on the award, Riie!