A fair, inclusive and sustainable HYY

Election programme 2025 / UH Greens

16 September 2025

What is UH Greens?

UH Greens is a progressive non-partisan Greens organisation working under the student union of the University of Helsinki (UH), also known as HYY. As part of the Representative Council of HYY, we work to protect students’ well-being, fight the climate crisis and advocate for social justice and equality on a broader level.

Students are at the core of our group, and their concerns and needs shape our politics. Precisely because we are students ourselves, we understand that our worries encompass many areas of our lives. Cuts to student financial aid, the lack of affordable housing, and tuition fees for international students are all worries that we face. But the climate crisis, constant global conflict, and the mental health crisis are also of concern.

Solidarity is a key driving force in our politics. UH Greens has been a pioneering group in advocating for the academic boycott of Israeli institutions, an issue that has concerned students well before the encampment. Our group has also been the voice of international students over the past years, and we actively advocate for the normalisation of the use of our 3 official languages throughout the university and union. Furthermore, we strongly believe in the importance of student organisations as community facilitators and upholders, and that HYY should support them in this role. Together with these other goals, one of our core objectives is guiding HYY and UH towards sustainability and the protection of the biosphere.

We are brave, honest, open and goal-driven. This is why we actively and regularly cooperate with our coalition partner, SitVas (the Independent Left), and with other groups, as this helps achieve our objectives, which are:

Improving students' quality of life through increased government grants.
Making student healthcare more comprehensive and better funded.
Ensuring the wellbeing and inclusion of international students.
Making the university fully comply with the boycott of Israeli institutions.
Defending trilingualism and equal participation opportunities for all students.
Protecting organisational spaces and the diversity of HYY organisations.
Supporting sustainability research and expanding sustainability education.
Improving public transport and cycling opportunities to tackle emissions.
Achieving free comprehensive education for everyone in all areas of study.
Ensuring flexibility in studies and accessible education for all disciplines.

Join us in our journey to achieve a better future for everyone. One that is greener, fairer and more equal, where we can live in harmony with all living creatures.

HYY as an advocate for a more just society and world

Due to the government cuts, it is now, in the midst of inflation and a job crisis, that students have to fend for themselves more than ever. International students face an even grimmer future.

Finland relies on internationals for expertise but does not provide equal learning conditions, which ensure their proper development both as experts and as active members of society. We must fight for students in Finland to receive the proper support in their studies and daily lives.

And while the situation in Finland is deteriorating, beyond our borders, the state of conflict and human suffering around the world only worsens. Children are starving to death amid the genocides taking place in Palestine and Sudan, at the same time as civil war and ethnic cleansing continue to occur in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Myanmar. Students are trained to be the actors of the future and to fight for human rights, so we, along with the entire HYY, must take a stand.

HYY stands for the quality of life of students

HYY must stand up to the policies of the right-wing Orpo government and stand firmly on the side of equality, social justice, anti-racism and anti-ableism.
Students must be moved back onto the general housing allowance, or the student housing supplement should be raised significantly.
The loan bias of the financial aid to students should be reduced by increasing the share of the study grant. The income limits for study grants should be raised according to general earnings development.
The total amount of student grants must be raised at least to the level before the Orpo government’s cuts, and the freeze in the student grant index should be offset with a one-time purchasing power adjustment.
The meal allowance for university students must be linked to the general cost index, and the Kela allowance for student meals must be automatically increased.
In the long term, a universal basic income that is sufficient to live on is the best solution to secure income for students, too.
At least 1000 new student dwellings should be built in Helsinki per year, close to campuses and with good public transport connections. In the process of building them, students’ diverse needs should be considered, facilitating both communal and solitary living.

HYY stands for international students’ livelihoods

The livelihoods of international students and equal access to health and mental health services must be guaranteed.
International students graduating from higher education should be incentivised to stay in Finland by granting them permanent residence permits.
Accessible and affordable housing options should be ensured for international students. Housing allowance for international students should be developed, and in the absence of one, actors like HOAS should adjust rent for international students accordingly.
The income threshold for student resident permits should be lowered back to the levels before the update of the 1st of November 2024 (from 800 euros to 560 euros a month).

HYY stands for better healthcare

We call for more support for FSHF (Finnish Student Health Service, YTHS in Finnish) from the government, as it is the primary actor in tackling issues such as the mental health crisis among students. We also call for more training for FSHF staff on minority identities and their intersections, precisely to promote better mental health work.
The number of student psychologists should be increased so that appointments can be made within two weeks. In addition, low-threshold multilingual counselling needs to be increased.
The required amount of insurance for student resident permits should be lowered, and the services provided by FSHF to international students ought to be more comprehensive.

HYY stands for accessible and affordable public transport

The student discount on HSL tickets should be restored to 50%. Students should be able to buy a seasonal ticket for longer than one month.
All students should receive a student discount for HSL single tickets, regardless of where in Finland they study.
Requirements for permanent residence in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area for getting discounted seasonal HSL tickets should be removed for international students. A proof of student status issued by any of the institutions of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area should be enough to obtain the discount.

HYY stands for human rights

HYY should participate actively in demonstrations, boycotts and campaigns concerning issues such as human rights and the environment.
HYY should not be complicit in any type of human rights violations but promote the mobilisation of their members against them, while ensuring its operations are fully in line with this endeavour.
HYY must take a stand and be involved in promoting the conditions for humanitarian aid to reach Palestine and for stopping the genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel. HYY should demand that the Finnish government recognises the Palestinian state and acts in favour of a lasting ceasefire.
HYY should lobby to demand the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The University of Helsinki and HYY are bound to comply with the members’ initiative approved on the 28th of May 2024 on the boycott of Israel and Israeli academic institutions. HYY should adhere to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. HYY ought to continue pressuring the university into complying with the academic boycott, both from the Representative Council and student grassroots movements.
HYY and the University of Helsinki should demand that Israeli institutions receive no funding from the Horizon Europe grants. This money is put into the development of dual-use projects, like aircrafts, that are used to bomb Gaza.
Ylva, the University and HYY should pay particular attention in all their procurement activities to ensure that the goods and services procured, or their intermediate products, do not originate from illegal Israeli settlements or other circumstances where there is reason to suspect unethical practices, human rights violations or flow of funds to military activities.
The state’s development cooperation funding should be raised to 0.7% of GDP, and campaigns should aim to increase the level of education in partner nations.

HYY and the university

The university is an intrinsic part of every student’s life, from courses to the campuses we spend all day at. Through HYY, students have an opportunity to influence their university, so it aligns with their values and needs. The University is for all, not few.

HYY must be an active union that makes an impact both through its advocacy work and its services to members. Students should be granted better conditions inside university and a place to be outside of it, with HYY providing social support through organisations.

A more open and accessible university

We call for better possibilities to change one's gender in the Sisu service used by the university, regardless of the social security number. The options "other" and "don't want to tell" must be included in the system. In addition, students must be able to decide for themselves whether their gender or other information should be visible to the university administration.
The university and HYY websites, systems and applications must be accessible to ensure that all students have as equal access as possible. This means, for example, screen reader-compatible websites and Instagram posts that always include an alternative caption. In addition, the use of induction loops should be ensured in all university premises.
The university should pay more attention to break-time equipment, so that students can take a break from their studies with a little exercise or stretching.
All individual bathrooms should be made gender-neutral without delay and large bathrooms should be made gender-neutral at the latest as these bathrooms are renovated or new bathrooms are built.
Menstrual products should be available in all bathrooms to prevent period poverty. The possibility of providing menstrual cups and other reusable menstrual products should also be considered.

A vibrant and financially sustainable student union

The student union membership fee should not be raised any further. Last year’s rise was an unavoidable one-off, and should suffice to finance HYY’s activities.
Resolving HYY’s financial difficulties calls for an organised and future-oriented approach that aims to retain essential assets while securing a firm basis for the long-term development of the student union. Any solution must take into account both the role of HYY’s properties in supporting student organisations, as well as their cultural and historical value.

An inclusive and active student union

HYY's communications should continue to be trilingual, and sufficient resources should be allocated to implement effective trilingualism in HYY's activities, events and institutions such as the Representative Council.
Equal participation in the Representative Council should be ensured through the promotion and normalisation of the use of interpretation services. The use of Swedish by bilingual representatives should be encouraged, and Finnish-Swedish interpretation services must return.
During the streaming of Representative Council meetings, interpretation should also be made public and available for every student. All students have the right to know about the public decisions their representatives make. This right cannot be fulfilled when language barriers exist.

HYY supports organisations

HYY needs to restore grants to organisations to pre-cuts levels as soon as the economic situation of the union makes it viable. Depending on the nature of the organisation, funding its activities through other means is often challenging and time-consuming.
Organisations in greater need, like those without their own spaces, should be given priority in HYY’s grant allocation.
Grants for the inclusion of international students should be awarded to organisations with a majority of Finnish nationals. International student organisations must be protected and nurtured, but they cannot be the only option for this demographic, which is at a higher risk of social exclusion.
HYY must provide more comprehensive training for organisational actors on the inclusion of international students. Events should be made more welcoming to non-Finnish or Swedish speakers. They should offer equal participation opportunities while preserving the organisation’s cultural traditions.
HYY must support the resilience of organisational actors and provide training to promote sustainable and exhaustion-preventive practices in organisations.
Student magazines are an important part of student culture, and their preservation should be enabled.
We are committed to independent, truthful and quality journalism away from media monopolies. HYY must support the production of journals that align with these values.
The Student Union should continue to provide facilities for organisations and ensure that they are suitable and accessible.

Sustainability

One of the greatest challenges that not only our generation but the whole world faces is the climate crisis. We should act at all levels of society to tackle it, and students have a key role as actors of the future.

The role of sustainability in education cannot be understated, as it is essential to understand the threats that our climate and biosphere face for us to know how to mobilise and cooperate to eradicate them. HYY, UH and the city of Helsinki must create and adhere to strong sustainability plans, so they can belong in a better communal future instead of becoming relics of the past.

A university that leads the way of sustainability research

The university must prioritise the education and research needed to tackle the climate crisis. The university should reinstitute the professorship in Environmental Policy that they abolished in 2024.
The Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), a reference of interdisciplinary work towards sustainability solutions, is extremely underfunded after heavy cuts in 2023. The funding of HELSUS should be restored to the original levels (before the 2023 evaluation report). These poor choices have a direct negative effect on the future expertise needed to mitigate the climate crisis.
The University of Helsinki should ensure enough funding for all types of research from trusted sources. Although the university does not longer invest in fossil fuel companies, these same companies provide thousands of grants a year for funding research across the globe. UH should completely cut ties with this industry and work along its researchers to find sufficient funding from them.
The university ought to focus more on reducing its emissions and finding renewable alternatives rather than relying on carbon offsets to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.
The university should ban all work-related domestic flights and strive to reduce the travelling carbon footprint of its community.
Korkeasaari zoo and the Sea Life aquarium should not be endorsed, and free entrance for Viikki students should not be provided. Conservation efforts should not require having animals in cages for exposition. The Sea Life company has been extremely criticised in the past for their unfair treatment of animals in other zoos around the globe and should not be trusted or endorsed.

The environmentally conscious union that we deserve

We call for the development of incentives to further increase the consumption of plant-based food. Unicafes should offer at least two vegan options per day.
Unicafes must make a fair and sustainable transition to a fully plant-based, vegan restaurant business.
Two fully plant-based Unicafes should be established on the Central Campus, and every campus should have at least one fully plant-based Unicafe.
Unicafe should stop serving cow's milk as a beverage.
The price reduction for plant-based meals should be reintroduced, encouraging customers to choose a plant-based alternative. Other strategies that could lead to an increased share of vegan meals sold should be researched and explored.
Unicafe should focus all product development on plant-based dishes.
HYY and YLVA must continue developing their carbon footprint calculations to include a wider scope of emission sources to have a more accurate and truthful depiction of their impact.
Organisations and HYY employees should be trained more on topics related to environmental sustainability.
Funding for development cooperation should be restored as soon as possible. During this period, the Development Committee must be kept active and concrete opportunities must be found for its members to do effective work.

A greener city for everyone

We aim for a car-free central campus, where people would move by walking, cycling or even skateboarding. Nonetheless, emergency vehicles and essential transport vehicles should have access to the campus.
Cycling facilities should be developed, and cycle routes near and between campuses should be safe and interconnected as seamlessly as possible. Winter maintenance of all cycle routes ought to be improved, and the urban cycling season should be extended to cover the entire natural year.
Public transport services in the evenings and at weekends should be developed. In particular, metro services should be extended to 24 hours a day.

Education policy

Every student, regardless of their nationality or background, deserves a quality education. We strive for a model that moves away from treating students like mere numbers and invests in their individual journeys. We advocate for inclusive and varied education, which promotes critical thinking, interdisciplinarity and collaboration.

High quality education for all areas of study

HYY should speak up for comprehensive education. The number of humanities disciplines and their student numbers should not be reduced.
The funding allocation system for Finnish universities ought to change. The current model relies too heavily on the statistics of students graduating “on time” putting unnecessary strain on universities and their students to graduate quickly.
The university should increase the number of PhD salaried positions offered per call. The university must invest in the job stability of all of its employees, but PhD students are particularly vulnerable to job insecurity.
The university must ensure enough funding to maintain high standards of teaching and research. The current tendency to underfund or divest money from basic research should be reversed. Basic research is the backbone of all research and development. Universities should move away from a production-based model.

High quality education in all three languages

Study programmes that are only available in Finnish should expand their curricula so they can also be completed in Swedish or English.
The number of study courses in programmes in Swedish needs to be increased, ensuring that Swedish-speaking students can complete their degree studies in their first language. The quality of studies should be secured by not forcing the merging of smaller groups into large ones in pursuit of cutting costs.
The offer of Finnish language courses should be increased so it can be equal among all four campuses, while always ensuring a fully remote option for all courses. These classes should also accommodate alumni, since the employability of international students is usually dependent on their Finnish language knowledge.
Language learning should be made accessible to everyone. The language centre should increase its offer in courses suitable for non-Finnish speakers, especially for those with Swedish as their first language.

High quality education for all incomes and backgrounds

We call for a ban on unpaid internships. The university should not recognise unpaid internships and thus should not award any study credits for them. The current economic situation of students demands that internships be paid at a competitive wage.
Students must be provided with an adequate income and support for exchange studies. The number of long-term student exchanges (at least 3 months) for university students has fallen by 35% in ten years.
Student mobility to other Nordic universities should be improved and developed. The priority in the development work should be to reduce bureaucracy for students.
We call for a permanent right to study in Finland for international students.
Tuition fees for international students should be removed. The university should at least increase the amount allocated for scholarships. Scholarships must also allow for more flexibility in one’s studies, as they only cover the case where students will complete 30 ECTS or more per semester.
Due to the high price of tuition fees, students should be able to split their payments over 8-10 payments. Currently, students are forced to pay the whole tuition for the first year (up to 20.000 euros) upfront.
Flexibility of studies needs to be ensured. Flexibility is important for students working full-time, those with disabilities or who take care of sick or elderly relatives, among others. All courses that allow for it should offer both on-site and remote options for students, and attendance requirements for these classes ought to be lowered or eliminated. All class materials should be made accessible, including class recordings.