Happy tuesday everyone!

Second Weekly Feed after our break includes a lot of things in it! The ISYY Association Days start today in Joensuu, Coffee with Friends is continuing today with a wellbeing theme, University of Turku is conducting a survey on the well-being of non-Finnish students... and much more! Be sure to check the whole letter out to not miss on anything!

Important thing to note is that due to the installation of Peppi version 5.2, there will be a service interruption from 11th to 13th March 2025.

Wishing a good week to everyone, see you at the office if you happen to visit (be sure to mind the exceptions to the office opening hours this week)

Kind regards,

Joona Rantala | Coordinator of International Affairs, Joensuu Campus

Get yourself the Student Union Ribbon!

Are you planning to attend the Annual Celebration of ISYY or a Student Association? As a member of ISYY you are entitled to wear our Student Union Ribbon.

The Student Union Ribbon is sold from ISYY office’s to our members. Price: 4€/meter.

The Student Union Ribbon is a symbol of our Student Union that is worn in academic celebrations. It is worn either over the right shoulder to the hip or in the left bodice. From the link below you can find instructions how to fold and sew the ribbon.

Association Days are here!

Today you can find many student associations gathered together in Carelia lobby - come to explore what they have to offer, if you haven't already! This is your chance to find a new hobby, favourite overall badge, or get to know people behind the associations. Other associations and ISYY clubs will be in Carelia lobby tomorrow Wednesday 12 March. The event is free, but many associations sell their overall badges and other merchandise at the event.

Joensuu | Carelia lobby:

Tue 11.3. at 10–14: student associations

Joensuu | Carelia lobby:

Wed 12.3. at 10–14: clubs and other associations

Grab a friend and come to network with us!

Exceptions to the ISYY Joensuu office opening hours

Due to staff shortages, there will be following exceptions to the opening hours of the ISYY Joensuu campus office:

• Tuesday 11 March: closed
• Thursday 13 March: closed
• Tuesday 18 March: closed

In equipment loans, if the return date falls on a day when the office is closed, the loan period is automatically extended to the next day when the office is open.

Interest advocacy updates from February

• ISYY organised association training for student associations, where topics such as the change in alcohol laws were discussed. 
• ISYY's board members attended the SYL opening seminar in Tampere, where current issues were discussed.
• Communication with FSHS (Student Health Services) has been maintained through a meeting where updates from both ISYY and FSHS were shared, and future inspections related to the study environment were discussed.
• In the Keva (sustainability & responsibility) group, the University of Eastern Finland's procurement guidelines were reviewed, and there was a discussion on sustainable public procurement. In addition, a meeting was held with Student and Learning Services.

Coffee & Friends event today!

The café meets on Tuesdays at 4-6 pm at Agora café in Joensuu and at 3-5 pm at Lukema in Kuopio.

Upcoming themes in Coffee & Friends:

• 11.3. Wellbeing
• 18.3. Bingo
• 25.3. Joensuu: singing bowl relaxation / Kuopio: volunteering (Guests from Kompassi)

Coffee & Friends event offers low-threshold hanging out after lectures and the opportunity to meet other students over coffee and a snack. All students of the University of Eastern Finland are welcome to Coffee & Friends. You can come to the café alone or with a friend. In addition, Coffee & Friends has a changing chill program. Participation in the programme is voluntary and you can come for a while or for the whole time. Participation is free of charge and does not require pre-registration. 

You can find more information and the program of Coffee & Friends on ISYY's website.

ISYY’s Interest Advocacy Coffee Breaks are here!

ISYY’s Interest Advocacy Coffee Breaks will be held in Kuopio at Canthia (CA304) and in Joensuu at Aurora (AU101) on 18.3. at 15.00-16.00.

All those members interested in student advocacy are welcome to discuss with the ISYY board and subject association representatives over coffee, tea and snacks.

The theme of this event is getting to know each other, learning environments and methods, and planning future coffee breaks together! The sessions are organised simultaneously on both campuses, so we can establish a remote connection between the campuses.

Please register your participation and inform us about your allergies or diets by Sunday 16.3.2025 at 23:59 by filling this Google Form.

ISYY Club Meetings

All club meetings (except Academic & Historical Dance Joensuu & JEIS) are held weekly in ISYY's meeting room in Haltia-building, 2nd floor (Yliopistokatu 7).

More information and a full list of ISYY's clubs in Joensuu can be found on ISYY's webpage: ISYY Clubs in Joensuu

• Magic The Gathering Guild meeting Mon 3 pm - 8 pm
• Academic & Historical Dance Joensuu Mon 6 pm - 8 pm (Educa, E200)
• Joensuu's Exchange and International Students Mon 4 pm - 6 pm (Aurora, AU206)
• LUOMIO! Literary Arts club Tue 6 pm - 8 pm 
• JOOJAKU meeting Wed 4 pm - 8 pm
• Joensuu Board Gamers meeting Thu 3 pm - 8 pm
• ISYY Chess Club meeting Fri 4 pm - 8 pm

SYKETTÄ Joensuu website is working again

SYKETTÄ Joensuu website is working again after the outage. You can now enroll on classes and turns via the sports calendar on the website. Enrollments made via Google Forms on the classes and turns held this week (week 11) are valid and you cannot enroll on those classes via the sports calendar.

SYKETTÄ Joensuu mobile application is currently out of use. When requesting a SYKETTÄ sticker during classes and turns, you can show the sticker via the SYKETTÄ website from the profile under your name when you are logged in. You can also purchase a SYKETTÄ sticker via the website's online shop again!

Sport courses of spring: Cross-country skiing technique

When: On Tuesdays 25.2.-18.3. at 4pm-5pm
Where: Laulurinne ski tracks

Ilari Nissinen of Joensuu's Kataja ski division instructs skiing technique classes four times. Meeting in the parking lot by the Laulurinne ski track, next to Linnunlahti Camping. You must have your own equipment, but if there is a need for loan equipment, please contact Ilari in advance. More information in the class description in the sports calendar.  Enrollment via sports calendar on every class separately. You can enroll on the course with both a group exercise and a ball sports sticker.

NB! The course is intended for those who have already skied and know the basics, but it is not necessary to know the techniques beforehand. Also note that class is instructed in Finnish.

• 11.3. Skate skiing
• 18.3 Skate skiing

Ongoing: Major Service Interruption in Peppi 11-13 March 2025

Due to the installation of Peppi version 5.2, there is an ongoing service interruption until the 13th March 2025.

The new version of Peppi improves technical functionality and includes new developments related to cross-institutional studies and the Opin.fi service, as well as bug fixes.

Sustainability Days in Joensuu 19.3.2025

The event, organized for the second time, provides an opportunity to explore UEF's sustainability expertise across various disciplines and fields of study. The programme includes interesting speeches, workshops, stands and a photo exhibition. All speeches will be streamed, so online participation is possible. Part of the programme is organized in Finnish and part in English.

Remember to pay the FSHS Healthcare Fee for spring term!

Degree students please note that you have to remember to pay the FSHS Healthcare fee for spring semester. You are not billed for the fee but are expected to pay it unprompted. See instructions from the site linked below.

The due date for the spring term is 15 March, if you have registered as attending by 31 January. If you register as attending for the spring term on or after 1 February, the due date is 31 July.

You do not have to pay the healthcare fee if you have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country, from Switzerland or from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Find out how to proceed if you have social security coverage in another EU/EEA country, in Switzerland, in Great Britain or in Northern Ireland on Kela's website.

The 2025 rate of the student healthcare fee is EUR 35.60 per term.

JSC x JEIS Public Speaking Workshop  

Want to boost your confidence and improv skills? Improve your speaking & leadership? Interested in networking & career growth?

JSC (Joensuu Speakers Club) and JEIS (Joensuu's International Exchange Students) are organizing a highly interactive public speaking workshop together at the University!

Joensuu Speakers Club is a new and community led initiative built for Joensuu that will facilitate weekly free of charge 90 minute in person workshops that include introductions, icebreakers, debating, storytelling, evaluations, improvisation...

Session structure: 

• Opening Presentation (10 min) – Talk on networking and JSC introduction.
• Interactive Workshop (90 min) – Public speaking, storytelling exercises, and confidence-building rounds.
• Call to Action (5-10 min) – Sign-ups for JSC and social media engagement.

Date: Tuesday, March 18th

Time: 4.15 pm - 18.15 pm

Location: Aurora Building (AU206), UEF

BePop x JEIS International Music Nights start this week!

Get your dancing shoes on and join JEIS for awesome international music nights in Bepop!

JEIS is collaborating with Bepop to bring some international music to Joensuu! These awesome music nights of the spring semester are going to happen on Thursdays starting from 11 pm. (March 13th, April 3rd, April 17th, May 8th, and May 22nd)

To make this event truly international, we want you to participate in making the playlists for the event! 

Below you can find the anonymous song request form for the events.

A Water Survey for International Students

Hi, international student living in Joensuu!

The local water supplier Joensuun Vesi is implementing a customer satisfaction survey and would like to hear your opinion of the water quality in Joensuu. Your answers will be handled anonymously and the survey will only take a few minutes. Please respond within this week.

The survey is implemented by Innolink. For more information on filling in this survey, please contact Innolink’s project manager Wilhelm Noth, wilhelm.noth@innolink.fi.

Thank you in advance for your valuable feedback!

You can take the survey through the link below.

Hey, foodies, would you like to meet new people, make delicious dishes together, and learn to speak Finnish? May we present you the Friends, Food & Finnish 2 course!

You will learn about traditional Finnish dishes and pastries and how to make them yourself. Each time, there is a different theme. You don’t need previous cooking or baking experience. The teachers are university home economics students, including a Finnish language teacher.

We will meet four times, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., on Mondays, March 10, 17, 24, and 31. The venue is the university's Natura building, Yliopistokatu 7, 80100 Joensuu.

The course is open to all international talents free of charge. You must register at least a week before the date you would like to join. However, you will still receive a separate confirmation email about whether you can enter the course.

Rhythms In Tropics – DJ Willz @ Botania Joensuu 15.3.

Joensuu’s first-ever Afrobeats night! Experience the fusion of Afrobeats music and dance in Botania tropical garden. Special guest DJ Willz, with over 10 years of DJing experience across Finland.

Time: 19:00–00:00
Fee: Students €10 (norm. €15) | Free with a Botania Card

International House Joensuu Non-Stop Finnish language courses in spring 2025

Come and learn Finnish in a fun and interactive way by listening, speaking and doing! The courses are free of charge, and you don't need a textbook. Classes start from 10.3.2025! The courses are held at luotsi at Koskikatu 5 (Carelicum)

• Choose NON-STOP SUOMI– Beginners group, if you know little to no Finnish.
• Choose NON-STOP SUOMI– Intermediate group, if you have participated in the beginner course and have mastered the basics of Finnish.
• Choose NON-STOP SUOMI– Advanced group, if you can already have day-to-day conversations in Finnish.

Register for the course via email: registration.internationalhouse@joensuu.fi

In your message upon registration, be sure to mention:

• Your name,
• Your phone number and/or your email
• Which course you want to register for

You can find more information and the timetable for the groups at International House Joensuu's website:

Would you like to have your own mentor?

Are you a freshly graduated talent willing to build a career and future in Finland? Apply for the mentoring programme of Suomen Mentorit! You will get your own mentor with vast working life experience to speed up your job search and career considerations, and with whom you can reflect the building of your unique life and career path.

In our mentoring programme you’ll get:  

• Your own mentor with whom you will meet 8-10 times  
• Tools for identifying your own strengths and articulating your competences 
• Support and confidence in job search  
• Support for your own career considerations and building of your career path in Finland 
• Support for creating working life networks 

Application process:

• Fill in the application form on our website by 16th of March 2025 
• Wait for our contact via email during week 16 
• If you are selected to the programme, your mentoring journey will begin in the virtual Kick-Off event on Mon 28th of April 2025.

Find out more about the mentoring, criteria for mentees, the application process and the activities of Suomen Mentorit below. 

Free Online Course on AI Ethics

The University of Helsinki offers a free online course, Ethics of AI, providing a solid introduction to the ethical aspects of artificial intelligence. The course explores what AI ethics is, how AI can be developed and used in an ethically sustainable way, and what limitations and possibilities AI has from an ethical perspective.

The course is suitable for anyone interested in the topic.

Visit Finnish schools during your stay in Finland!

Would you like to visit a Finnish school while in Finland?

School visits can be carried out in any classes – in subjects such as languages, history, geography, sports, arts, cooking, biology, religion, and student counselling. You can also take part in a theme day organised by the local school, e.g., an international day.

Your school visit really makes a difference to the pupils!

You don't need to be a teacher, just a visitor bringing something new to the classroom. During the school visit, you will have a possibility to join lessons, present your country and broaden Finnish pupils' cultural awareness, and inspire them to study or volunteer abroad. You'll also gain insight into the Finnish education system.

Travel expenses will be reimbursed, and you'll receive a certificate of participation.

How to sign up for a visit?

You can register to the Erasmus in Schools programme through the Matching Machine platform. You will receive a notification by email once you have been matched with a school. After that, you can plan your visit together with the teacher.

Weekly Feed is the English language newsletter of the Student Union of the University of Eastern Finland (ISYY). You are receiving this letter on your email because you are a member of ISYY and are studying at Joensuu campus or because you have joined the mailing list yourself. 

Weekly Feed provides you with current information on matters related to the Student Union, UEF or other organisations close to students, such as FSHS. In addition, the newsletter provides you with information on events taking place at campus or the campus city.

Weekly Feed is published on Tuesdays during the academic year, with the exception of holidays and a few other days. If you do not want to receive the newsletter anymore, you can unsubscribe the letter via the unsubscription link  located on the top of the letter. 

You will find more information on ISYY's newsletters  and data protection on ISYY's website.