Why organise a conference in Jyväskylä?

Jyväskylä is a unique, vibrant and youthful city. The city’s educational institutions have long experience in hosting various congresses and conferences. Our city is characterised by a warm conference culture and hospitality.

The city is surrounded by enchanting nature and lakes. Jyväskylä offers the advantages of a small town without the disadvantages of a big city, such as short distances and a stable and pleasant climate. The main hotels and meeting venues are within walking distance of the city centre – all by the lake.

Associate Professor Arja Sääkslahti, the Congress Ambassador for 2025, lists 10 reasons why it pays to organise an international congress in Jyväskylä – and especially on the University of Jyväskylä campus.

The University of Jyväskylä (JYU) is a multidisciplinary and internationally highly renowned university in many fields. By organising scientific congresses, we make our University’s research better known while also strengthening our international position.

Every time I arrive on campus, my eyes rest on the beautiful, harmonic composition of natural elements and University buildings. It gives you a boost for the day first thing in the morning! Although I have not visited all the campuses in the world, our congress visitors have commented on our campus so much over the years that this is no exaggeration. Visitors also enjoy the feeling that they feel like valued guests here. That feeling leaves a stronger memory than congresses held at big conference venues that tend to be similar from one event to another.

In Jyväskylä, accommodation is available mostly within walking distance. Moving around is easy and simple, and you don’t need to be concerned about bus or train timetables. At our congresses people can concentrate on the actual event and joint activities with colleagues outside the congress programme.

Nature is spread across the campus area, and within walking distance you can find other fascinating locations: Harju ridge, many lakes, Tourujoki river, Laajavuori, Ladun Maja area, as well as various nature paths and camping areas… everyman’s rights, berry and mushroom picking time in autumn. We have four distinct seasons. For Finns, these are everyday things, but for many congress visitors these can be something truly new.

The Finnish school system has its origins in Jyväskylä, and on our campus the spirit of Finnish education lives on. We should carefully cultivate and maintain the spirit of the Athens of Finland and provide opportunities for our congress visitors to get acquainted with our unique education system and its underlying thinkers. The ideal of teachers as bringing enlightenment to the people becomes clear and our understanding increases of the great footsteps we are following in. The campus guides have also been highly praised by visitors!

Jyväskylä is not only the Athens of Finland, but also a kind of national melting pot. Our students come from different parts of Finland, helping to make the spirit of our University more communal, open, friendly, safe, and diverse. And more and more international students are adapting to the local conditions, despite the darkness of winter.

Our University understands the significance of congresses and offers support for congress organisers. The University’s facilities are optimal for congresses of 100 to 500 people, but the auditorium of the Main Building enables events for up to 700 persons. The first step is to negotiate and reserve different facilities for different needs. This is followed by a carefully prepared budget to finalize the arrangements for the start of the congress. JYU Congress Organiser’s Guide includes everything you need to know, and answers to other questions can be found simply by asking!

Faculties and departments often struggle with financing congress participation for their staff and postgraduate students. Organising an international congress offers an excellent chance for staff to participate in congresses, as the costs are much lower than those required for one or two researchers to travel abroad for a congress.

From this perspective, congresses hosted here represent cost savings!

We Finns still have a reputation as steady, trustworthy and friendly colleagues who act ethically and invest in quality. Our congress visitors have often commented that Finns – and in this case especially the people of Jyväskylä – are like the nature surrounding them: kind, well-balanced and peace-loving people, ready with help or advice whenever needed.

Jyväskylä features interesting architectural areas right next to the University. Alvar Aalto is unique and important – and provides a great asset. But there is also the unique Älylä area: Wivi Lönn was the first female architect in Finland to establish her own office. Buildings designed by her can be seen not only in the Älylä area, but also within walking distance from the campus.

In different seasons, we can offer congress visitors some glimpses of Finnish sport culture. We have strong traditions in sports that are often lesser known in global terms, and which make use of different seasons. Our national sport culture is represented, among others, by women’s gymnastics, Finnish baseball, bandy, skiing as well as somewhat newer sports such as ice hockey, figure skating, floorball, frisbee golf, and more.

Would you dare to offer to winter congress visitors a chance to try sledding, winter swimming, or ice skating? I have, and it has been well worth it – many visitors became immediate fans of Finland and Jyväskylä … and they are among the first to register whenever they hear that there is a congress in their field being held in Jyväskylä.

Presentation
Tero Tuovinen
Senior Researcher, Institute for Renewable Industries
Technology
Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences

Why should conferences be included in researchers’ toolbox? How can a researcher benefit from being a conference organiser?

– Networking: Conferences can help you build up a really big network of slightly different researchers
– Permission to read: Organising a conference gives you a kind of official permission to read a lot of research articles on topics that interest you.
– Meet your guru: A conference is a good reason to get in touch with the very gurus whose presentations you’ve always wanted to listen to. An invitation to be a plenary speaker is often interesting enough for them to respond to you. At the dinner, invited speakers sit as guests of the conference organisers and there can be hours of time to discuss really interesting topics, research and otherwise.
– Compilations: The conference is a good opportunity to start putting together a compendium / proceedings based on the conference presentations and their themes. As an editor, you will be able to influence the articles to be published and raise their quality by implementing a high-quality review process. You can also manage your time and by being active, the publication process will progress quickly.
– Volume of publication: Conferences have been successfully used to increase the number of publications and to obtain citations. By being active and gathering the network around you at the event, your research will be more visible to those most likely to refer to your work.
– The latest information: By organising a conference, you can offer your colleagues a great opportunity to access the latest information in the field at a really low cost. Attending a conference in Jyväskylä costs around €400-500 + time spent, in practice €2000 worldwide, depending on the location. While travel has its place, this could be an alternative to that other scientific event of the year. So the idea is that every self-respecting scientist should attend at least a couple of scientific events a year.
– Community service: Organising conferences is part of the community service for researchers. We are part of the research community and it works best when everyone contributes. By organising a forum for scientific debate, you can say you have done your bit.
– An extra line on your CV: Organising a major international conference is usually rewarded with prestige, which is reflected in your CV. Often these are awarded a medal or a certificate of honour, and these merits help the organisers to rise up the hierarchy within the organisation.