Pet peeve: For posts relevant to the US only, state it. Preferably in the title.
Karla Still šø
Karma: 284
EA FinĀland AnĀnual ReĀport 2024 (+spring 2025 upĀdates)
Thank you for the clarification Nicole!
Sounds like a great event! To give comparable stats for more similar events to the EA North than the international EAG conference, here are some stats from two events by EA Finland
EA Finland retreat Fall 2024
- 3-day event with sleepover.
ā 32 attendees. (57% first-time retreat attendees.)
- Likelihood to recommend 8.9/ā10
- Shallow connections[1]: Avg: 6.6
- Deeper connections[2]: Avg: 5.2Total costs excluding employee costs: 3,775ā¬ (3,214 GBP). Including employee costs: 4,275ā¬
Total cost per participant: 134ā¬
Cost per participant after participation fees: 76ā¬ (=65 GBP)
Cost per deeper connection[3]: 14,6ā¬ (=12,5 GBP). Same range as EA Northās 11 GBPHumans in EA Finland event, spring 2025
A 1-day event with 13 25-minute presentations by community members on any topic loosely related to EA. Topics included:
How I use AI tools to live a better life,
No Summer job? Want to do something together?
My projects on AI control: LLMs Schelling coordination & training monitors
Mental health as a global health problemāand what philosophers can do about it
From combustion engines to climate change science. My EA Journey
My EA journey and thoughts on career advising
Some stats:
21 attendees. (5 firstcomers.)
āHow likely would you join a similar event in 6 months if organisedā Avg 4.7/ā5
Feeling welcome and included: 8.6/ā10
Qualitative feedback:
Most often mentioned value received (in open field) wasSocial needs (6/ā12)
Getting to know people better (6/ā12)
Learning new things/ā new ideas (4)
A couple also mentioned getting feedback to their projects and increased motivation
Cost:
Total costs: 790ā¬ (290ā¬ food costs + ~500ā¬ employee salary costs)
Cost per attendee: 38ā¬/āparticipant (=32 GBP)
Cost per connection is hard to count based on the feedback gathered.- ^
āHow many people did you have a 5+ minute discussion with for the first time?ā
- ^
āHow many, if any, people that you didnāt know well before the retreat would you now be comfortable asking a favor from?(e.g., someone who might reach out for collaboration, connect you to a job opportunity, etc.)ā
- ^
Excluding participation fee, including employee cost.
If we apply for funding after June 1st, how likely is it that we can get a response from the EA infrastructure fund by mid-August if we state that need in the application?
In the post āFunds and CEA are mergingā, it was said:EA Funds will be accepting and evaluating grant applications throughout the merger and spinout process, so you can continue to submit applications. [ā¦] Grant requests submitted to EA Funds after 9 May will not be processed until at least 1 August.ā
Because it says that the applications will be evaluated continuously, I had interpreted āprocessingā to mean the due diligence and payout, not evaluation. But in this post, I get the impression that the pause is more comprehensive because of
We likely wonāt evaluate all applications by 1 June, but we will prioritize time-sensitive and promising applications and aim to complete evaluations for those before the pause
I strongly believe that cultivating a habit of giving, even with small amounts, helps build a long-term culture of altruism
I strongly agree with this! Before I had a stable income, Iād set aside 1ā¬ a month to a separate bank account for charity. Usually, Iād wait a year or more to donate the accumulated money somewhere. (For context, Iām from Northern Europe.)
Nice idea! Iāll share this with the Finnish EA community to ask if someone wants to volunteer.
Thank you for continuing to share these! I likely would have donated less to the AWF if you didnāt share public reports.
Did you see GWWCās 2025 strategy post?
(1) Iām also a bit confused about the difference between charitable projects and hosted funds. First, I thought it means itās not possible to donate to funds via GWWC website, but after reading it again, I interpreted it as a change happening rather back-end and wonāt impact recommendations. Instead, it would be a change in the oversight GWWC promises for the funds. Have I understood it correctly?
I just found that Sebastian Schwiecker had written a blog post on the same topic.
Because ofI was hoping there were good EA blog posts on this topic, but after spending a while with EA Forum search and Google I didnāt find any.
ā¦ Iām leaving this link here :) https://āāeffektiv-spenden.org/āāblog/āāwie-viel-soll-ich-spenden/āā
Congrats on making a brave strategic change!
Iām wondering how you changed from Assiettes VĆ©gĆ©tales to Anima. Was it just a name change to better reflect the new strategy or a merger to Anima International (if itās also called that in non-profits)?
Fair enough! Thanks for sharing this perspective as well. I guess that a rights-based animal charity evaluator would focus more on making change through legislation and litigation, failing to notice other approaches to improve animal welfare. However, there could be something that the current approach of EA orgs is missing more easily, which the rights-based lens would include.
Thank you! Looks like what I was looking for :)
So, to summarize:
- Some animal rights activists have impractical attitudes (for creating change effectively, such as not using non-violent communication) and alienating attitudes towards non-rights-based interventions to improve animal welfare. You find value in promoting other approaches than that.
- You find good arguments for welfarist tradition.
- On the other hand, being against animal rights doesnāt cling right and talking for animal rights can be a good shortcut.
- You believe there is an overlap with welfarist and rights-based ethical theories that should be appreciated.
Did I understand you right?
Thanks for the response! I didnāt first think of different moral value systems which obviously have an impact on how people view the issue of animal suffering and well-being. I still think a ārightsā mindset can be a valuable extension of utilitarianism, for implementing the change we want to happen on an institutional/ālegislative level to improve animal welfare. I also think it is easier to imagine personhood for non-human animals when using a rights-based approach. They are not just beings that events are happening to, but individuals for whom the ability to live a full life using their capabilities is instrumental for their well-being. And there talking about rights can be useful. Thatās how Iād quickly sum up how I think about it :)
[Question] Why is āanĀiĀmal welfareā more comĀmon in EA than āanĀiĀmal rightsā?
Thanks for writing the post! Iām not an expert in the area and would be interested in learning more about the topic.
Regarding R&D in the US, it reminds me of the Founders Pledge Climate Change Fundās strategy which focused on reducing energy poverty (at least some years ago. Their strategy might have changed based on their website.)
In general, why are you focusing mainly on US development policies in the section āWhat would we need to do to make this work?ā I understand itās one of the biggest players, but one could make arguments for policy work in other countries as well, e.g., citizens of small EU countries trying to impact the EU, as the representation and power relative to the population size can be high.
When it comes to āshould EA do thisā I think of it as, would I recommend someone who is doing EA-focused career planning to pursue a career influencing long-distance development policy if they are a good fit for it? Even if this post doesnāt result in new āEA orgsā getting founded I think it is valuable discussion as this might be read by people with an EA mindset considering pursuing development policy careers or working in the field.
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing
Congrats on organising such a successful conference! Iām impressed by how much interest there was in the event :)
PS. Hereās a list of past Forum posts related to EA Finland in chronological-ish order.
A Brief History of EA Finland
EA Finland: from a philosophy discussion club to a national organization (longer history)
Giving Guide for Student Organisations ā An ineffective outreach project
EA Finland Annual Review 2023
How to set up a career advising system for your local EA group