Liia Hänni was presented with the Open Estonia Foundation’s Concord Award

The civil society organisation The Open Estonia Foundation has awarded Liia Hänni, a long-time e-democracy expert at eGA, the prestigious Annual Concord Award.

The foundation recognised her for upholding the values of an open society, strengthening participatory democracy, and promoting a citizen-centred e-state. In this challenging time for democracy and civil rights, we still need advocates and defenders of the Constitution like Liia Hänni. Her work has contributed to making Estonia inclusive and transparent, the foundation said in its statement.

“The Concord Award brings joy—it sounds like a lifetime achievement award for democracy or e-democracy. In these challenging times, we need concord more than anything else to ensure that freedom and democracy endure,” said Liia upon receiving the award.

Liia played a pivotal role in restoring the Estonian state, having been elected to both the Supreme Council and the Congress of Estonia in 1990. Liia has made significant contributions as a scientist, politician, and stateswoman throughout her career. She served multiple terms in the Riigikogu and was Minister from 1992 to 1995. 

Liia is often referred to as the mother of the Estonian Constitution and i-voting. Her work in shaping Estonia’s democratic institutions has had a lasting impact. Liia holds a degree in physics from the University of Tartu, specialising in astronomy. Before her political career, she worked as a researcher at the Tartu Observatory, contributing to the study of stellar evolution.

Liia joined the e-Governance Academy in 2004 to develop its e-democracy programme, with a focus on raising public awareness about the opportunities for participatory democracy enabled by technological advancements. As a distinguished expert in the field of e-democracy and i-voting, Liia has been involved in numerous international projects, including one of the most memorable collaborations with Nagaland, India, which was inspired by Estonia’s e-government model and led to the development of its own e-Nagaland strategy.

As Liia steps back from her work at eGA, she shared the following thought: “For me, democracy has never been just a job—rather, it is a mission that requires constant commitment. I hope to stick with it.” 

The Open Estonia Foundation is a civil society organisation that supports democracy, open governance, and active citizenship in Estonia. 

The award was presented during the Foundation’s 35th anniversary celebration at the XXVIII Open Society Forum. It recognises individuals whose contributions have significantly advanced the principles of an open society and fostered greater mutual understanding among Estonians. Past laureates include Kersti Kaljulaid, David Vseviov, Allar Jõks, Marju Lauristin, Lagle Parek, and others. 

eGA is grateful to continue having Liia as part of its family—her dedication remains a source of inspiration to us all.