World Student Capital

The World Student Capital network consists of the student unions of universities in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Familiarly, WSC represents nearly 100,000 students, and their goal is a future where everyone has a home, traffic is smooth and services operate impeccably.

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Student unions of the Capital Region have long cooperated on issues such as public transport discounts and improving students’ housing situation. World Student Capital started to take shape in spring 2010, when Helsinki was preparing to act as the 2012 World Design Capital. At this time, student unions of universities wanted to increase cooperation both among themselves and with the student unions of the region’s universities of applied sciences. Jussi Valtonen, the first chair of Aalto University Student Union, presented the idea of students cooperating to make Helsinki the best student city in the world – the World Student Capital.

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The network

The network also collaborates with the region’s cities, universities, HSL, HOAS and experts in promoting a better everyday life for students as well as citizens. World Student Capital is an advocate for each of us, and their work is reflected in, among other things, the Student City study published last year and as an advocate for the Tiederatikka-project. These researches are utilized and aim to achieve cheaper housing, smoother mobility and better student services for the Helsinki metropolitan area.

The history of WSC:

In 2016, Helga served as the chairmanship organization and directed the entire network. At that time, the network successfully lobbied 300 more student apartments for Helsinki’s annual goals, at the same time they were also separated into a separate group from the youth apartments.

In 2017, Helga led the Helsinki working group, which focused on the Helsinki area. In 2017, the mutual goals of the network have been the municipal elections and the Tiederatikka2025 -campaign. The municipal initiative launched as part of the campaign has collected names throughout the year and returned to the Urban Environment Board to the Town Planning Board in the autumn.

Throughout the history of World Student Capital, the idea of stabilizing the network as a registered association was regularly discussed. Seriously, this began to be planned after the 2017 municipal elections. This brings continuity to operations and more clarity to decision-making.

The rules of the new association were confirmed at the association’s founding meeting on December 17, 2018. At the same time, a chairman was elected to the association, and a representative from all member communities was also elected to the board of the association.

In 2019, WSC’s political policy paper was renewed, which guides the association’s activities, read more here.

In 2020, Helga again served as the chair organization. In 2020, WSC’s urban policy program for the 2021 municipal elections was renewed.

World Student Capital’s website can be found here https://worldstudentcapital.fi/en/

Check out World Student Capital’s Student City study here: https://worldstudentcapital.fi/en/research/