As an entrepreneur, author of non-fiction books, and an experienced researcher, teacher, and performer, Samu Nyström has been involved in popularising scientific information for many years.

– I think it is one important aspect of academic work: research findings must be projected beyond the research community so the knowledge can be used by society more generally.

Nyström has had practical experience of the many different ways of popularising science. In the last few years he has contributed to reference books, a wide variety of lectures and talks, radio programmes, guided city walks and much more.

History is a field which is easy to popularise and make interesting to the public. Conveying the frontline historical research, however, can be problematic: many people hold strong opinions and world views from the time they went to school, which hamper attempts to present new interpretations and findings.

–It is not a question of the public challenging the findings of researchers, which is certainly important, but of people only wanting to hear and read what they already know. Sometimes it takes all our communicative skills and strategies if we’re going to challenge the prevailing paradigms in the world beyond the academy, says Nyström.

At best, the researcher and the public learn – everyone gets new information, or learns to appreciate the diversity of interpretations.

– It is great when you or someone in the audience have an ‘ah-hah’ moment and see things from a different perspective.

One of the most rewarding ways of popularising science for Samu Nyström has been through city walks. There are historical materials and long-standing traditions here. Both professor emeritus Matti Klinge and professor of European History Laura Kolbe have for decades been taking their students – and sometimes other listeners – on tours in the streets and squares to explore the history of the city and urban life.

– When the subject of my dissertation is Helsinki during the Civil War and the First World War, what better place can be found for the presentation of the findings than the streets of the city? I have led all kinds of walking tours on the streets of Helsinki. At best there have been upwards of 150 people joining the group, so there clearly is a demand for this kind of activity.

As part of the academic world opening up in a new way, a group of urban historians, led by professor Laura Kolbe, decided in 2013 to establish a company, Helsinki Walks, whose aim is to bring an understanding of urban history to the public.