2021 - Life Under New Circumstances

board members: Yannika Rönnqvist (president), Amanda Häkkinen (vice-president), Laura Barry, Maxine Buchert, Pilvi Kilpeläinen, Essi Lievetmursu, Alexandra Salo, Aarni Rantanen, Monica Ratinen

The biggest challenge of the year was the ongoing pandemic which affected the organisation as a whole. It made planning and executing the original plans for events difficult, not to forget about challenges in engaging new participants. For example, the Vantaa National Session was first postponed to summer, in hopes that the session could take place in person, and was ultimately held online as it was not possible to hold such a large event physically.

After years of discussion, we decided to split the Regional Sessions into two held in spring and two in autumn. This was done to even out the workload of the board during the year, and to make the autumn less busy for the board members and Secretary General. The spring sessions, Lempäälä and Helsinki, were held digitally. Finally, after one and a half years of digital sessions, the autumn sessions in Porvoo and Mikkeli warmly welcomed delegates and officials back in-person.

A new cohort of “digital EYPers” emerged during the pandemic. The most active members were able to quickly rise to leadership positions and experience many National Committees by attending back-to-back digital sessions, or sometimes even two sessions at once. However, digital sessions struggled to attract Finnish delegates, which is a worrying concern for the future of active members of EYP Finland. In the autumn we therefore concentrated on renewing the school tour and strengthening teacher and school relationships with the help of an intern.

The pandemic definitely showed the importance of meeting prospective delegates face-to-face in schools and or-

ganising in-person sessions. Even though digital sessions capture a lot of the EYP spirit, there is no replacement for the physical session experience. Therefore we postponed Lapland IF again to ensure that participants from as many countries as possible can gather safely in Rovaniemi with minimum travel restrictions. The event is due to take place in April 2022 under the same leadership. In the summer, we also organised our first-ever event in Åland, as the Officials’ Training took place physically in Mariehamn.