In Joukkila, the new year begins as early as October. A new Residentsâ Committee has been elected by the residentsâ meeting of the Student Village West (Ylioppilaskylä Länsi) and is now taking office for the coming year.
Here is some information about our committee and our activities:
The Residentsâ Committee for 2026â2027 consists of eight people, including a chairperson, a vice-chairperson, a treasurer, and five other members. The residentsâ meeting has authorized the committee to add new members during its meetings throughout the term, so the composition may change over the coming year.
⌠Could you be the newest member of the Residentsâ Committee? âŚ
Currently, all the committee members happen to have prior experience in organizational workâsome quite a lot. However, you do not need any prior experience to join us; we will be happy to help you get started.
The new committee members represent a diverse range of academic fields from both the University of Turku and Ă bo Akademi University. We include three natural scientists, three humanities scholars, and two theologians. Two of us are working on doctoral dissertations, two on masterâs theses, and four on bachelorâs theses. Several of us also hold previous university or university of applied sciences (AMK) degrees, earned in Turku as well as in cities such as Joensuu, Jyväskylä, and Seinäjoki. These include, for example: …degrees in business and engineering.
We also possess a diverse range of professional experience, spanning numerous sectors and roles over many years. This includes backgrounds in universities and educational institutions, national defense and security, the biotech, brewing, and forest industries, interpreting and translation, the hospitality sector (restaurants and bars), as well as various roles within the third sector (non-profit/civil society organizations).
Furthermore, many of us have spent years in positions of responsibilityâserving on the boards of subject-specific student associations and student unions, as well as within the decision-making bodies of various other societal organizations and institutions. Many of us have also been active for years in various clubs and student nations (osakunnat). Currently, one of our members serves on the board of TYS (Turku Student Village Foundation).
We are, therefore, well-prepared to face the coming year, whatever it may bring. We begin our term during a challenging period, as our common room will be undergoing renovations throughout the first month of our tenure.
Nevertheless, we have set a firm goal to further develop resident activities during the upcoming term. The previous committee got this work off to a great start, providing us with a solid foundation to build upon.
We intend to continue organizing at least one “hangout” almost every week. As things stand, the schedule will likely remain as usual: Tuesdays from 6:00 PM onwards, held at the common room (“Kerhis”)âonce the renovations are complete. Board games will almost certainly remain the main focus of these hangouts, but other activities are also welcome and encouraged, provided they stay within reasonable limits.
Likewise, we aim to keep the regular sauna sessionsâincluding the provision of drinks during the Sunday sessionâjust as they have been. We are also open to adding more sauna slots if the residents would like that.
We are keeping the door open for the film club to continue; we will provide full support for its organization if a new person steps up to lead it.
⌠Could you be the next leader of the film club? âŚ
We aim to host larger events 1â2 times a month. These will include, at the very least, the epic grand reopening festival for the renovated common room, our traditional pre-Christmas party, New Yearâs celebrations, Easter parties, Halloween events, evenings for new residents, and “Back-to-School” partiesâplus the long-awaited return of our LAN parties.
We also hope to bring back events from last year, such as our May Day (“Vappu”) festivities, Midsummer celebrations, and crayfish parties, alongside many other exciting new events.
We welcome your suggestions! In fact, all of our events are organized based on the wishes of the residents. We also keep our primary mission in mind: advocating for the interests of our residents. We will continue to actively represent our resident community on all frontsâboth locally and nationallyâincluding through our participation in the representative bodies of TYS and SOANK.
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So, if you need advocacy regarding student housing matters, please get in touch with us!
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We also aim to raise general awareness about the Resident Committeeâs activities across all relevant areas, and to explore opportunities for collaboration with other stakeholders within the Turku student community. If you have any questions about resident activities, or if you represent an organization interested in collaborating with us, please donât hesitate to reach out! In particular, we are working to improve our communication across our various channelsâmost notably here on our official website.
With that, we would like to extend a huge thank you to the wonderful resident community of Ylioppilaskylä Länsi for the trust you have placed in us! We promise to do our absolute best to represent you all, in line with the mandate you have given us through your votes.
See you in events at Kerhis and in saunas!
With kindest regards
The New Tenants Committee