Hankekontekstis

Hankekontekstis is a concept used in Finnish project management and research governance to describe the contextual framework surrounding a project. It captures the conditions under which the project is defined, planned, and executed, including goals, scope, stakeholders, funding, and the regulatory and organizational setting.

Core elements typically included are strategic alignment, project scope and boundaries, governance structures, funding arrangements and budgeting, timelines and milestones, risk and assumption logs, ethical and regulatory considerations, data and metadata requirements, and intended outputs and dissemination channels.

The purpose of hankekontekstis is to support planning, evaluation, knowledge management, and continuity. By documenting the contextual factors, organizations help new team members understand the rationale and constraints, enable comparisons across projects, and facilitate the reuse of results in related initiatives or programs.

Relation to terminology and standards can vary. The concept corresponds to what is often called project or program context in English. In Finnish practice, it is frequently embedded in project charters, data management plans, or reporting guidelines. The exact scope and level of detail are influenced by organizational conventions and field-specific requirements, and there is no single universal standard governing its preparation.

Example: In a Finnish research project funded by a ministry, hankekontekstis would document the funding agreement, ethical approvals, participating institutions, data sources and access rights, collaboration agreements, expected outputs, and planned dissemination to policymakers.