Yhteys – Competence for Psychologically Safe Student Support

Connection – empowering everyone to participate

We strengthen the capacity of higher education and student organizations professionals to identify and support students experiencing mental health challenges. The project responds to an urgent need, as student loneliness, anxiety, and study discontinuation have increased significantly in recent years. We develop innovative social solutions that promote students’ mental wellbeing and study ability. These innovations combine nature-based approaches with multimedia content, including images, audio, video, and online interaction.

Our project operates in the regions of varsinais-Suomi and Pirkanmaa. The primary target groups are teaching staff, student guidance professionals, and personnel working in student organizations. Our goal is to ensure that every higher education student feels heard, seen, and supported. We are particularly committed to reaching students who have become isolated or have not received the support they need. Humak’s responsibility within the project is the co-creation and piloting of nature-based and animal-assisted innovations that foster meaningful encounters and supportive interactions. Humak’s project experts, Anna Pikala and Tiina Heimo, contribute specialized expertise in nature-based and animal-assisted methods. They work as subject-matter experts, content developers, and trainers, particularly in the application of nature-based approaches.

Objectives

1. To strengthen the capacity of higher education teaching, guidance, and student wellbeing staff, as well as student organization personnel, to identify, engage with, and support students experiencing mental health challenges, and to help them access appropriate ongoing support and services.

2. To co-create and pilot new social innovations based on psychological safety, nature-based approaches, and media content for reaching and supporting students experiencing mental health challenges.

3. To enhance the expertise of higher education teaching, guidance, and student wellbeing staff, as well as student organization personnel, in designing and facilitating psychologically safe groups.

4. To improve staff wellbeing and sense of meaningfulness at work by strengthening practical interaction and guidance skills that support everyday work and facilitate encounters with students experiencing mental health challenges.

5. To increase the capacity of student organization professionals to coordinate and provide training in peer-support activities, including approaches that utilize nature-based and transmedia methods.

6. To embed the nature-based and transmedia models developed within the project as sustainable regional practices and to disseminate them nationally.