The European YUFE alliance teaches cooperation and courage

Sanni Vesala, a master’s degree student majoring in social policy at the University of Eastern Finland, was the President of the YUFE alliance’s Student Forum during 2025. In this blog post she recounts her experiences as a YUFE student representative.

The Student Forum Presidency at the European universities’ YUFE alliance (Young Universities for the Future of Europe) has been like a year-long course into working life. At the same time, it has been a part of international higher education cooperation, which shifts and develops as matters are advanced together.

What I learned as a President could be summarized into a resume expression of “experience in project work, communication, leadership, and organization skills in an international environment”, but most of all I have learned a lot about cooperation and courage.

The importance of cooperation and a sense of community is emphasized in a group where intercultural practices vary significantly. Finding a shared approach and building trust require the ability to put oneself in another’s position and open communication. The courage to take up a position, do things my way, step forward, share my own viewpoint and leave my comfort zone are things that I will benefit from in many sectors of life in the future.

In addition to various working life skills and experiences, I have had the privilege to make friends with people from different parts of Europe. This also represents YUFE – a cross-border communal organization that offers a wide range of possibilities.

YUFE connects Europeans in a unique way

I was an exchange student in Austria, Linz in 2022, and when I returned to Finland after my exchange, I realized I missed the time I spent there and the international student community. When I saw the application for a YUFE alliance student representative as a part of a Student Forum consisting of ten European universities, I got excited immediately.

Before I jumped into the YUFE activities, my understanding of the European higher education cooperation was largely limited to exchange studies. I quickly realized that YUFE and many others are constantly developing and changing the entire field of European higher education, one step at a time.

YUFE’s vision of the cooperation of ten different universities in terms of online courses, student exchanges as well as shared degrees brings new opportunities to students all over Europe in its ambition.

Sometimes it can feel like Finland and our campus city are far away from the rest of Europe, in isolation in the north. In a unique way, YUFE has brought the university and people participating in the activities closer to others, as a part of something cross-border, through which you can feel a part of something European. Today, the importance of a sense of community is invaluable, and that is one of YUFE’s biggest resources. It is one of the many reasons to join the activities: a possibility to be a part of the European higher education community in different ways, from Joensuu to Britain and all the way to Cyprus.

Lessons from the presidency

When I applied to the YUFE activities, I hoped that through YUFE I could meet new people from around Europe, learn new things about the European higher education community and gain more international experience. Now, two years later, I can say that my wishes have been fulfilled and even exceeded many times. I have learned a lot more than I could imagine.

I was chosen as the YUFE Student Forum President for the year 2025. The duties included the leading of the Forum’s activities, organizing and leading the meetings, various administration duties, and organizing two yearly physical meetings in Europe – in 2025 we met in Brussels and Torun, Poland. In addition, the President and Vice-President represent the viewpoint of students in the Strategic Council, which consists of partner university rectors, as equal voting members. The Strategic Council meetings were organized in Kuopio and Paris.

In addition to these duties as a President and everyday student life, I organized and participated in several Teams meetings monthly and traveled to the on-site meetings of the Strategic Council and Student Forum. One of the highlights of the year was participating in the EU-level university alliance’s event for student representatives in Warsaw, where I was able to get to know almost 50 other student representatives from all over Europe.

In addition to students, I collaborated with the staff and rectors of universities and the employees at the YUFE Brussels office. This all taught me a lot about how the higher education system operates from student activity all the way to the executive level.

I accumulated a significant amount of working hours and kilometers traveled over the year, but I learned and experienced even more.

Author

Sanni Vesala

Master’s student majoring in social policy, YUFE student representative

University of Eastern Finland