The Finnish Social Policy Association was founded in the 1908. The Association arranges its annual National Meeting together with universities. The meeting is usually in the end of the October. It also organizes seminars on current topics of social policy. It publishes a quarterly journal Janus (in Finnish, with English abstracts). The number of members fluctuates from 350 to 450.
The association has the following objectives:
- It aims to develop social policies.
- It aims to promote the discussion in the field of social policy.
- It acts as a link between practitioners and research.
The Board is elected by the General Assembly of the Association as are the President and the Vice-president. Secretary and treasurer are appointed by the board. The board’s members represent universities, various social policy institutions, and nongovernmental organizations.
The association collaborates with national and international organizations. The Association is a member of the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies. The ESPAnet is one important international partner. The ESPAnet annual conference was held at the University of Helsinki in 2008. The conference was part of the celebrations marking the anniversary of the Association.