President Sauli Niinistö to receive the title of honorary sports tutor

Promoting a physically active lifestyle is one of the cornerstones of a prosperous society and something on which, for example, the population’s ability to work, study and defend their country is based on. The challenge presented by President Niinistö to encourage Finns to be more physically active serves as a great example of how even small deeds have the potential to improve individual wellbeing, and consequently public health. We here at OLL have responded to the challenge by promoting higher education students’ opportunities to exercise in a variety of ways and by encouraging higher education students to adopt a more physically active lifestyle with, for example, the “Liikkeestä voimaa” social media campaign. We want to thank the patrons of the campaign, President Niinistö and Sandra Bergqvist, Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity.

“On the eve of our centenary, we want to emphasise the fact that a growing number of students is affected by the disadvantages of a sedentary lifestyle. We are working to ensure that all higher education students exercise enough for their wellbeing and that higher education institutions promote conditions and culture supporting physical activity,” says OLL’s President Emilia Junnila.

With the title of honorary sports tutor, we want to recognise the ways in which influential persons promote physical activity and spark multi-disciplinary social debate on the topic. According to the Office of the President of the Republic of Finland, President Niinistö showed great appreciation of our gesture. Our sports tutoring provides low-threshold peer support for increasing physical activity, with sports tutors organising activities and presenting opportunities to exercise to other students studying at the same higher education institution.