Press release 14 November 2022
For immediate release
The two-day General Assembly of the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL) will be held at Hotel Korpilampi in Espoo on 18-19 November 2022. The General Assembly wields the highest decision-making power in SYL and elects a new President and six Board Members for the Union for 2023. In addition, the Assembly outlines the objectives and activities of SYL in 2023 and decides on changes to SYL’s Rules.
All 14 student unions will be represented at the General Assembly. The unions represent around 130,000 university students in total. Altogether, the student unions elect 139 full representatives to the General Assembly. The number of participants will total around 300.
SYL’s action plan for next year focuses on the upcoming parliamentary elections and the advocacy work surrounding them. Even though many candidates now give ambitious statements about restoring the appreciation we as a society have for education, the damage done by previous budget cuts can still be seen in the decreased resources available for teaching and the increased number of students suffering from mental health problems.
“Future student generations must have faith in their future and power to change the world around them”, SYL’s President Konstantin Kouzmitchev says. “In order to ensure this, the decision-makers must invest in the future by allocating resources to education and students’ well-being.”
The General Assembly will start on Friday 18 November at 9.30 a.m. and continue on Saturday 19 November at 10 a.m. On Saturday, the speech to the General Assembly will be made by Alexander Stubb, former Prime Minister of Finland.
The election of SYL‘s President will take place at the General Assembly on Friday, and the elections for the Board will be held on Saturday. We will announce the results as soon as we can after the elections. This year, there are three candidates for the post of President for SYL: Lotta Leinonen (OYY), Johannes Pessi (TaiYo) ja Jenna Rautionaho (TYY).
There are currently ten other candidates for the six posts of Board Members. The candidates nominated by the student unions are Tuomas Alm (TYY), Roosa Grönberg (LTKY), Jenny Kasongo (Vasop), Iikka Kokkoniemi (OYY), Jasmin Koskela (VYY), Sonja Naalisvaara (HYY), Antti Regelin (AYY), Pauliina Ryökäs (ISYY), Sampo Sainio (AYY) ja Jenni Suutari (JYY). Candidates may be nominated until the elections take place at the General Assembly. You can read more about the candidates on SYL’s website at https://syl.fi/en/candidates-2022/.
The media are welcome to follow the General Assembly at Hotel Korpilampi on both days.
Interviews are preferably given during the lunch breaks (Fri at 12–13 and Sat at 13–14) and after the General Assembly. Please contact SYL’s Communications Adviser for more information or scheduling interviews (antti.kivi@syl.fi, tel. +358 41 515 2228).
SYL’s General Assembly will also be webcast live on SYL’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/sylvideot. The hashtags used on social media will be #SYLliittari and #StudentsOfFinland.
For further information, please contact:
Secretary General Sonja Raitamäki, tel. +358 40 741 1251
SYL’s President Konstantin Kouzmitchev, tel. +358 44 906 5007
During the General Assembly, we recommend that you contact our Communications Adviser Antti Kivi, tel. +358 41 515 2228.
You reach us by email at firstname.surname@syl.fi.
Documents for the General Assembly are available at https://syl.fi/en/events/general-assembly/ .
The online documents also include a more detailed schedule and rules of procedure for the General Assembly.
