Assuming we end factory farming before 2100, which factor will have contributed the most?

I put more weight on social moral changes (or "culture") because we already have (at least on the market in Finland) many cheap, tasty, nutritional and good texture plantbased proteins. E.g. in the university canteens, the plant-based option can often have the equivalent nutritional content (regulated by the state so that the canteens get meal subsidies), and there's nothing wrong with the taste, but most of my classmates still choose the animal-based option out of familiarity or habit. A good example of this is my friend who, on the first day in uni, accidentally took the vegan choice, which is usually first in the line. She shared with everyone that this is such well-cooked chicken and didn't believe me when I said it's soy, not chicken. She seemed very puzzled, maybe a bit regretful, I assume because it didn't match her identity to eat plant-based. 

Vegan nuggets manage well in blind taste tests, have almost reached price parity, and most people claim they want to eat more plant-based for climate and health reasons; yet we haven't seen a significant shift towards them (said a plant-based lobbyist I talked with). 

This is mostly anecdotal, though, and I guess I could make similar arguments the other direction too but for now I lean towards cultural/moral change being more important. BUT, it doesn't mean it's necessarily the most effective thing to work on on the margin. 

I agree :) I have written 6 posts about effective giving during the past year on Substack. And the latest one, which also got the most views relatively (still only around 100), was about my personal donations in 2025. 

Also, consider writing in your native or local language! Example: As far as I know, there are <10 people (or organisations) who have ever written about effective giving in Finnish, and I'm the only one doing it semi-consistently. Most people in my target audience in Finland are essentially fluent in English, but many prefer reading in Finnish if they can, as it might be faster and easier to connect. I'm also not writing anything particularly novel, so few EAs miss out on anything. But my content could be a way to spark the initial curiosity, so that people get the motivation to read more in English (in which there's a lot more content that I often reference in my posts). 

With some liberal roundings here and there, I donated: 
50% Farmed animals (mostly through EA Funds)
30% Giving What We Can (mostly thinking it amplifies donations in global health and development, but I'd want to spend a day or two looking into it for real, and if another effective giving multiplier is more effective. The reports are waiting for me...)
10% Climate funds (Founders Pledge and Giving Green)
10% GiveDirectly and GiveWell

And for people landing on this post and looking for a coworking online space to join right away, check out EA gather town :) http://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/nxfhxwQg4HJ7KQz4A/ea-coworking-lounge-space-on-gather-town (I used it more actively a couple of years ago but still like the idea and believe it has some active users.) 

Here are my drafts: 

1. Personal reflections on leading a national EA group for 3+ years. I'll aim to publish this during the draft amnesty week, but I might also chicken out.
2. A post encouraging people to donate to effective giving organisations and comparing their multiplier effects, need for funding/ ability to use the money for growth and which charities/ cause areas get the boost if you donate to different meta charities. E.g., I expect donations to effektiv Spenden to result mainly in more donations for climate, but if you donate to Gi Effektivt, it only boosts GiveWell charities (not counting second-order effects of people getting into EA through these orgs). Anyone wanna work on this with me? Or steal the idea from me? :)
   
   
   [Edit: I won't share my reflections yet.]

I actually did something similar: a 1-month internship in Kigoma, Tanzania, for an EA-inspired for-profit. I paid all costs apart from housing. I also think being an EA group organiser made it easy for them to take me. (Unfortunately?) I learned that it was not a great personal fit for me, but it was still a good experience, and I think the founders appreciated my contribution. 

In retrospect and purely from an impact perspective, I guess that it would have been more impactful if I had donated the equivalent cost of my flight tickets and vaccines to them. With that money, my botec says that they could maybe have gotten 3-6x more than the value I produced, by hiring East African students for a total of 3-6 months worth of internships. If the money didn't come from my pocket but from the university, like it did for Annika, that wouldn't have been a counterfactual. 

In retrospect, from a not-impact perspective, I'm happy I did the internship. I gained a lot from it.

For context, I live in Finland. 

I've noticed local role models in your community are important in addition to the big-name leaders that you mentioned. I'm a community builder in Finland, and members of our community have often said that seeing and talking to people from the same country who do impressive stuff has helped them be more ambitious in their careers or even consider that they can have an impact instead of just being passive observers of EA.

PS. Here's 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 – An ineffective outreach project
• EA Finland Annual Review 2023
• How to set up a career advising system for your local EA group
• EA Finland Annual Report 2024 (+spring 2025 updates)
• Organizing EA Crash Courses: A Retrospective from EA Finland 

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. 
- 32 attendees. (57% first-time retreat attendees.)
- Likelihood to recommend 8.9/10
- Shallow connections^[1]: Avg: 6.6
- Deeper connections^[2]: Avg: 5.2 

Total costs excluding employee costs: 3,775€ (3,214 GBP). Including employee costs: 4,275€
Total cost per participant: 134€ 
Cost per participant after participation fees: 76€ (=65 GBP)
Cost per deeper connection^[3]: 14,6€ (=12,5 GBP). Same range as EA North's 11 GBP

Humans 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 problem - and 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.)
• "How likely would you join a similar event in 6 months if organised" Avg 4.7/5
• Feeling welcome and included: 8.6/10

Qualitative feedback: 
Most often mentioned value received (in open field) was 

• Social needs (6/12)
• Getting to know people better (6/12)
• Learning new things/ new ideas (4)
• A couple also mentioned getting feedback to their projects and increased motivation

 Cost: 
Total costs: 790€ (290€ food costs + ~500€ employee salary costs)
Cost per attendee: 38€/participant (=32 GBP)
Cost per connection is hard to count based on the feedback gathered. 

1. ^{^}

   "How many people did you have a 5+ minute discussion with for the first time?"

2. ^{^}

   "How many, if any, people that you didn't 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.)"

3. ^{^}

   Excluding participation fee, including employee cost.