During her studies Jessica Parland-von Essen was active in the student organisation Historicus and she was one of the founding members of the Finnish Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. She has also worked in the board of the Genealogical Society of Finland and the Finnish Wikimedia, which maintains Wikipedia.

‘Associations are a great way to build networks, create new contacts and learn new things.’

Parland-von Essen has also been brought into many different networks, such as Inkludera Flera (‘Include More’), which promotes digital participation, and Digital Humanities Finland. Networks are the modern and effective way to get things done. She founded the HumanistIT network for researchers with her colleague Alex Snellman in the early 2000s.

‘Young people are less inclined to join associations and commit to the responsibility and the perseverance that is required. Networks are often less bureaucratic and formal, but they can be just as effective. Most important, however, is to learn things and make new contacts. These days networks offer a basis for many kinds of communities and communication.’

The transmissions of opinions and information in networks is often supplemented by seminars and meetings. As the archive director of Brages Pressarkiv, Parland-von Essen organised the Media Information Seminar together with the Swedish School of Social Science and others. The aim was to introduce the archive staff, media representatives and researchers to each other.

‘Bringing people together is the most fun and rewarding thing that I know.’