The values of SAMOK’s 2025–2028 strategy include openness and a student-led approach. In my opinion, both are at the very core of a student organisation like ours, as they ensure membership influence and democratic decision-making. However, implementing them requires resources, the right procedures, and a commitment to diverse dialogue.

Openness requires, among other things, a readiness for discussion and successful communication. One must be prepared to hear dissenting views and treat them with respect. Successful communication is vital so that the recipients understand our message. If we were lazy about openness, we could simply distribute documents related to vision work to our members and call it a day. Especially at the beginning of the year, when there are many new student union representatives, this would lead to our message being missed by many. It is therefore essential to explain matters more broadly to our audience.

Through safer space principles, our Code of Conduct, and the work of harassment contact persons, we aim to ensure that discussions are conducted respectfully and that as many perspectives as possible are heard.

We aim to open up various topics to our members in many ways. Early this year, we are organising several training sessions and discussions on different themes, both during the Lähtölaukaus cruise and online. We also strive to clarify matters in our other communications to ensure they are understandable.

In the form of a student-led approach, inclusion is at the heart of SAMOK’s operations and is effectively the reason for the federation’s existence. A student-led approach shares some of the same requirements as openness. One must be open to discussion and different viewpoints. Furthermore, successful communication is key, as inclusion is only possible when people can influence matters. And influence requires understanding. If we at SAMOK only wanted to provide a so-called minimum effort, we would state that member involvement during the general assembly’s consultation round and the assembly itself fulfills the definition of a student-led approach. Naturally, this does not work, as matters often require extensive and thorough discussion to be passed at the general assembly. It is therefore also in the federation’s interest that a student-led approach is realised.

In an ideal situation, students can participate in and influence operations at many different stages and in various ways. However, not everyone can necessarily participate in every training session or discussion, information may not reach all relevant actors within member organisations, or schedules may clash, making it impossible to respond to surveys, for example.

We strive to offer many different ways to participate. These include serving on the federation’s board, events, training, the aforementioned consultation rounds, various surveys, godparent student union activities, network meetings on different topics, committees, the Slack discussion platform, and the general assembly.

There is always room for improvement, of course, but at SAMOK we aim to continuously enhance our operations.

Writer: SAMOK’s executive director Vellu Taskila