Annual report 2022: Student union Helga
Lead paragraph
Students had high expectations and hopes concerning restoring communality. As the coronavirus restrictions were lifted during the first months of 2022, we at the student union Helga kicked up our heels. We organised a record number of various events to support students in the return to the campuses and in finding their own place in the community. In particular, we piloted small events where no alcohol was served, which aimed to offer as many students as possible an opportunity to participate in the student union’s activities.
The student union was involved in various projects aiming to revive and expand the community and to strengthen the position of equality and non-discrimination efforts in student communities. With the support of the projects and Haaga-Helia, we succeeded in strengthening Helga’s services supporting well-being and in implementing record levels of activities supporting communality and communication promoting well-being.
Advocacy in the changing world
The Russian invasion to Ukraine and the subsequent advocacy needs and racism were also visible in the student union’s activities and as a need of the student union to contribute to safe participation for all Haaga-Helia’s students. The discussion concerning creating a sanctuary for students progressed in leaps and bounds in 2022, and the student union continued to develop the harassment contact person activities together with Haaga-Helia.
We also renewed our own strategy. Our updated mission is: Helga – Sanctuary for the individual, community for the students. We want to bring people together in future as well and be there to support the students and to create memories during their studies that will last a lifetime.
Anna Laurila
Executive Director
Haaga-Helia’s student union Helga
Student union Helga
The student union Helga advocates for all students of the Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences and promotes their well-being. The student union Helga acts as a link between its members and advocates to further the civil, social and intellectual pursuits of students, as well as the rights of its members in regard to the quality of the studies and the status of students in Haaga-Helia, in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area as well as on the national and the EU levels. Among other things, Helga is responsible for the recruitment and training of all the tutors, hosts the most significant annual cultural and sports events organised by local associations and individual student groups, and offers advice and support to students in any student life scenarios.