Uniarts Helsinki’s response to students’ statement: limiting nighttime use is part of the university’s financial rebalancing

The Student Union of Uniarts Helsinki published a statement on 15 April 2025 demanding the university to take back its decision on limiting the nighttime use of its facilities. Read the statement by students.

The statement was a reaction to Uniarts Helsinki’s decision on new opening hours, which will be introduced as of 1 August 2025. The nighttime use of Mylly, the N Building and the Helsinki Music Centre between 00:00 and 6:00 will only be allowed under special circumstances. The decision is one of the measures taken as a result of the change negotiations, and its aim is to achieve yearly savings of at least 100,000 euros. The updated opening hours will first be in use as a year-long trial basis.   

The statement criticises the way students were not heard in the preparation of the decision. The reason for this unusual procedure is related to the change negotiations: we were not able to include staff or students in the process in the usual manner when making decisions on how to make savings, because the decisions involved preparations of arrangements that had an impact on employees’ employment relationships. However, we can and will invite students and staff to participate in the solving of questions related to the implementation of the decision. 

Another matter that was criticised concerns the insufficient reasoning presented for the decision. We acknowledge our mistake – the financial grounds of the decision to limit the opening hours should have been explained more extensively both in the decision document itself and in the way it was communicated to the community. Our communication focused on making it as clear as possible for students what the consequences of the decision are – what will change and when – and the importance of explaining the underlying reasons for the decision was unintentionally overlooked. 

The decision was made mainly on financial grounds. Uniarts Helsinki needs to make yearly savings of 2.5 million euros by the end of 2028. In the change negotiations and in cooperation with employee representatives, Uniarts Helsinki had the obligation to look for alternative ways to make savings so that it could mitigate the impact on its staff.  

Uniarts Helsinki also asked the university community to send in suggestions on alternative ways to make savings. About 300 suggestions were submitted, and they were prioritised in the change negotiations. The goal of the prioritisation was to identify cost-saving measures that would generate the best savings with the least negative impact on the operations. The negotiations helped reduce the savings that will concern personnel: 16 per cent of the savings can be made by cutting down other expenses. The remaining 84% of the savings will be achieved by reducing the number of employees gradually, mainly through retirements. Saving over 2 million euros in personnel costs requires reduced workloads and changes in the university’s current organisation structure and way of doing things and in employees’ job descriptions, for example. 

The nighttime use of the university’s facilities is infrequent. Based on access control data, less than 20 people have entered or exited the facilities between 00:00 and 6:00 per night. Additionally, the facilities are overwhelmingly underused within the opening hours during the mornings and evenings. 

Limiting nighttime use will help the university achieve significant yearly savings, as it can save energy consumption of empty buildings by reducing the buildings’ ventilation and thereby heating, too. When a building has no nighttime use, we can also reduce the amount of standard lighting that is turned on. The university will also save on security guard and nighttime alarm response expenses.  

Saving energy will also reduce the university’s carbon footprint. We are pursuing carbon neutrality in 2030, and it requires concrete actions. 

The statement notes that the granting of special permissions for nighttime use of buildings was presented unclearly. These are the issues that we would like to solve together with students. We will also collect feedback on the new opening hours from students and staff. In May 2026, we will review what kind of impact the limited nighttime use has had and whether the policy needs to be changed. However, it is important to remember that if we decide to reintroduce the old opening hours, we need to be able to make savings of the corresponding amount in some other area.  

Students will get to hear answers to their questions in info sessions organised specifically for students. Academy of Fine Arts students’ info session will take place on 28 April at 11–12, while the Sibelius Academy’s info session will be organised on 29 April at 16–17. Students will receive calendar invitations to the info sessions.