The Swedish Institute ( sv, Svenska institutet, ) is a
government agency in Sweden with the responsibility to spread information about
Sweden outside the country. It exists to promote Swedish interests, and to organise exchanges with other countries in different areas of public life, in particular in the spheres of
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
,
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
, and
research
Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...
.
The main office of the Swedish Institute is in
Gamla stan Gamla stan (, "The Old Town"), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna ("The Town between the Bridges"), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Officially, but not colloquially, Gamla stan ...
in central
Stockholm. There is also a branch abroad; the
Swedish Cultural Centre in Paris (french: Centre Culturel Suédois). The agency has approximately 90 members of staff and its board is appointed by the
Government of Sweden.
In early 2007 the Swedish Institute stated it was planning to set up an "embassy", the "House of Sweden", in
Second Life
''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...
, an Internet-based virtual world. This virtual office is not intended to provide passports or visas, but serve as a point of information about Sweden.
Other Swedish embassies in foreign countries are under the direct authority and control of the
Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Twitter account @sweden
The Swedish Institute is responsible for the Twitter account @Sweden where a new "curator" is selected to tweet every week.
In 2017, SI blocked 14,000 Twitter accounts from interacting with @Sweden. Among the blocked were journalists, authors, politicians, businessmen and ambassadors. When the block list was reported in the media, SI lifted the blocks and apologized.
When media, with support from the constitutional
Principle of Public Access, asked to review the list of blocked accounts the government agency deleted it.
See also
*
Swedish Institute Alexandria
*
Cultural Diplomacy
*
Public diplomacy
*
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
*
Alliance Française
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Swedish Institute
Government agencies of Sweden
Foreign relations of Sweden
Cultural promotion organizations
Swedish culture