What is going on in the field of international advocacy?

Uncategorized / 29.9.2026

JYY’s advocacy work is divided thematically into several areas. This article compiles the themes and advocacy goals related to international affairs that have been on the desks of JYY staff and board members working on international affairs throughout the current year.

In this context, “international students” generally refers to students who have come to Finland to pursue a degree, both from within the EU and EEA countries and from outside them.

FORTHEM Alliance and International Possibilities

Advocacy in international affairs does not mean focusing exclusively on the home campus. The University of Jyväskylä is part of the FORTHEM network, which consists of eight universities and offers the university’s students opportunities for internationalisation, such as short-term mobility periods. During the current FORTHEM term, JYY has highlighted these mobility opportunities, including during the FORTHEM event held this spring.

The existence and visibility of the short-term mobility periods offered by FORTHEM are a matter of advocacy for JYY. For many, internationalisation is a desirable and beneficial part of their degree programme, but student exchanges lasting a whole semester do not always fit seamlessly into everyone’s study plan. Short-term mobility programmes fill a gap in internationalisation in situations where a long-term exchange is out of the question due to constraints imposed by work, financial circumstances or personal interests. For this reason, a diversity of internationalisation options is beneficial to as many people as possible.

Communications Aimed for International Students

It is also in everyone’s interest that international students are part of the same university and student community as Finnish-speaking students. This year, JYY has aimed to strengthen its ties with international students, one example being the International Chat launched by JYY earlier this year, which has proved to be an effective communication channel, particularly for degree students.

In addition to communications, JYY has also sought to strengthen relations between student associations and international students, and to develop the international tutoring in our University.

National Politics Affect Students’ Everyday Lives

Earlier this Fall, JYY published a statement on the Finnish Government’s cuts to education funding for international students. In general, cuts to student support, such as housing subsidies, will undoubtedly also affect Finnish students, but students arriving in Finland from outside the EU and EEA have been hit particularly hard. The move to full-cost tuition fees, which, in practice, means raising the student’s share of the cost to 100 per cent, which means an additional bill of several thousand euros on top of their previous tuition fees for many international students. It has been important for JYY to highlight that cuts to financial support directly affect who actually has the opportunity to study in Finland.

Even if the university does not necessarily resolve the issues raised on the Parliamentary level, it is still the Student Union’s responsibility to bring up the impact of these decisions on students’ everyday lives in conversations. Students’ experiences and concerns have been raised, for example, in meetings with the Rector and International Services. At the same time, efforts have been made to find concrete local solutions. In collaboration with the city’s International House, training sessions have been organised, for example, to help with job-seeking to secure a livelihood.

Advocacy Work at the University

JYY has worked to influence the University’s language policy. Language issues affect, for example, student representatives on the University’s various administrative bodies, as there is significant variation in the bilingualism of these bodies. Bilingualism in decision-making is an essential part of the transparency of the university’s administration and, particularly from the perspective of many English-speaking student representatives, a key focus of their advocacy work.

In addition, further resources have been allocated to the Centre for Multilingual Communication, known as Movi, over the past year. A legislative amendment that came into force at the start of the year allows immigrant students to apply for a permanent residence permit after completing 15 credits worth of Finnish or Swedish language courses during their degree programme. The legislative change came into force suddenly, and both the university and the student union were under considerable pressure to respond to the need. Fortunately, however, the legislative change had already been anticipated, and Movi was able to secure additional resources on a tight schedule, particularly to increase the number of Finnish language courses. JYY’s role in this matter was to converse with the University and to listen to the students’ needs.