2013 - Open Door to the Office

board members: Jari Marjelund (president), Lars Melakoski (vice-president), Juho Nikko, Marja Pentikäinen, Alexander Proctor, Hammu Varjonen, Sofia Westerlund

In 2013, EYP Finland took two important steps forward: we established a central office in Helsinki and increased the reach of our activities by founding our fifth Regional Committee in Northern Finland. Establishing an office and hiring permanent staff to support the incredible work done by the volunteers of EYP Finland had been long-term strategic goals, and the first office – at Uudenmaankatu 15, Helsinki, officially opened in May with a minor celebration – was a first step in this professionalisation. (For one, former and incumbent presidents and other volunteers were happy to no longer store EYP Finland’s possessions in their – or their parents’ – apartments.)

Extending our activities to Finland’s northern regions was another significant improvement. Though the majority of our participants and active volunteers would still live in the south, the new Regional Committee provided the necessary framework for more structured participation in the region. The 19th National Session was also the easternmost event in the history of EYP Finland, head-organised by Saga Eriksson and Tim Backhaus in Joensuu.

The core activities of EYP Finland also remained of high quality and reached a record number of participants. The number of three-day Regional Sessions increased to four – organised in Kuopio, Turku, Tampere and Oulu – with participants from 65 schools attending. Prime Minister of Finland Jyrki Katainen visited the National Session in Joensuu.

The Finnish delegation to the International Session in Munich was the first to consist of individually selected delegates rather than delegations from 1–2 schools. In addition to a record 130 participations in events abroad, there were three other notable international achievements. Former president Krista Simberg succeeded (another former president) Ville Vasaramäki as the Executive Director of the EYP, and Jari Marjelund presided over the 74th International Session in Tbilisi, Georgia. Most significantly, EYP Finland was granted the opportunity to host the 79th International Session of the EYP in Tampere in 2015.