Visit to the Diplomatic Sauna Society - Finnmark Sauna
Sauna News

Visit to the Diplomatic Sauna Society

Feb 17, 2023

“All people are created equal, but nowhere more than in a sauna.”

Our Managing Director, Jake Newport was awarded the Sauna Diploma from the Diplomatic Sauna Society during his visit to the Embassy of Finland in London last week.

 

Jake Newport and Sauna Diploma

Jake Newport was awarded the Sauna Diploma at the Embassy of Finland in London

 

Finnish Sauna Diplomacy has recently received some attention in the media and was featured in the news earlier this year after BBC’s diplomatic correspondent James Landale visited the Finnish Embassy sauna in January to experience it first-hand.  

You can access the full BBC article through the link below:

“Will the UK warm to Finland’s naked sauna diplomacy?” (Landale, J. BBC News, 19th January 2023) 

 

Using sauna as a space to discuss politics has been resorted to by Finnish diplomats for years. Famously by the Cold War era President Urho Kekkonen. It is considered as a space of equality and mutual respect, where titles and social hierarchies are left in the dressing room. After all, it is tough to find a more relaxing space to negotiate than a sauna.