TEK’s decision-making is based on member democracy. TEK’s members choose the General Council, TEK’s highest decision-making body, in an election. The board chosen by the council is responsible for TEK’s operations in accordance with the Associations Act. The board chooses a CEO who is responsible for TEK’s operative functions and leads TEK's office. Committees serve as advisers to the board in matters pertaining to their fields of expertise.
Student members also have representation in the council, the board and the committees.
Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK (Tekniikan Akateemisten Liitto ry) consists of Tekniikan Akateemiset ry and Tekniska Föreningen i Finland TFiF rf.
Get to know TEK's decision-making bodies and member communities
The General Council, chosen from among the members and elected by the members, is TEK’s highest decision-making body. TEK holds the elections every three years.
The General Council decides how TEK will promote the interests of its members, what kind of member services it will provide, and how the profession will influence society. In addition, the council chooses TEK's board and decides on certain financial matters, such as the membership fees.
Working on the General Council provides an overview of the labour market and access to a broad network of members.
The term of TEK's General Council is three years, and the current council will be in office for the period 2023-2026. General Council comprises 70 elected members, with 66 elected from Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland and 4 elected from the Finnish Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers (TFiF). The council contains 7 fully competent student members with a term of office of one calendar year.
Check out the current council members
Council agreement
The council enters into a council agreement in the beginning of its term. The council agreement is an agreement between council factions that defines the shared goals of council. These goals steer the operations of all of TEK for the coming years.
The board chosen by the council is responsible for TEK’s operations in accordance with the Associations Act. The board must ensure, for instance, that the organisation's bookkeeping adheres to statutory requirements, and that there is a reliable arrangement of its economic management.
The board chooses a CEO who is responsible for TEK’s operative functions and leads TEK's office. The board supports the office and the CEO in the fulfilment of the council agreement and other goals set by the council. This is how the board supports TEK's office in providing the best possible service to TEK members.
The presiding officers (puheenjohtajisto, in Finnish) include the chair of the board, possible other members and the CEO. The main task of the presiding officers is to make decisions concerning personnel issues and staff benefits.
Members of the board and the presiding officers are all TEK members.
Composition of the board
The term of office for TEK’s board is three years, and the current board will be in office for the period 2023 – 2026. The board consists of the chair and 11 other full members, one of which is a fully competent student representative. Each member of the board has a personal deputy member. You can find each member’s council faction listed in parenthesis after their name.
The board sets committees for its term and they serve as the board’s advisers in matters concerning their respective fields of expertise. The committees may, for example, formulate opinions to support decision-making at the behest of the board.
The committees operate for a period of three years. The term of the current committees is 2021 – 2023. The term of office for student representatives on the committees is one calendar year. Click on the committees title to check out the chairman and secretary of the committee.
University Committee (Korkeakouluvaliokunta, KKV)
The University Committee works to develop local operations in universities and coordinate labour market matters in its sector.
Education Committee (Koulutuspoliittinen valiokunta, KOV)
The Education Committee deals with matters such as the organisation’s lobbying efforts in relation to educational policy. It also supports the professional development of TEK members and participates in monitoring and developing the quality of education and research at STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) universities.
Municipal Committee (Kunnan valiokunta, KUV)
The Municipal Committee is one of TEK's four labour market committees. Its purpose is to support promotion of interests (edunvalvonta, in Finnish) and local operation in the municipal sector and serve as an expert in municipal labour market issues.
Youth Committee (Nuorten valiokunta, NUV)
The Youth Committee serves as the voice of youth and a force of renewal inside TEK. The committee consists of representatives from tech student communities and young TEK members selected via an open application process.
Technology and Innovation Committee (Teknologia- ja innovaatiopoliittinen valiokunta)
The purpose of the Technology and Innovation Committee is to monitor both national and regional legislation in the areas of industry, economy, science, technology and the environment, and influence its implementation. The most important task of the committee is to promote the social significance and impacts of technology.
Work Life Committee (Työelämävaliokunta)
The Work Life Committee considers questions related to the professional careers of TEK members and monitors the success of employment advice and career coaching, for example.
State Committee (Valtion valiokunta, VV)
As one of TEK’s labour market committees, the State Committee participates in promotion of interests (edunvalvonta, in Finnish) and labour market activities.
Member Community Committee (Yhteisövaliokunta)
The Committee focuses on developing matters related to TEK membership.
Private Sector Committee (Yksityisen sektorin valiokunta, YV)
The purpose of this committee is to coordinate and develop labour market advocacy in the private sector, influence labour legislation and develop work-related social security measures.
Entrepreneurship Committee (Yrittäjävaliokunta, YRV)
TEK’s Entrepreneurship Committee focuses on the special issues faced by entrepreneur members and influences and monitors the development of entrepreneurship policy and legislation in Finland. The committee supports and promotes the growth of Finnish entrepreneurship while striving to increase entrepreneurship among tech students.
More than 20,000 of TEK's members are students and their voices are heard in TEK's decicion-making. Student members have full representatives at all levels of TEK's decision-making, from the council to the board and committees.
As a trade union, TEK has been a pioneer in involving student members in decision-making since 1980. Initially, students had only the right to speak at meetings; the current form of student voting was added to the rules in 1994.
TEK’s council may invite an exceptionally distinguished person of the industry or technology or other merit to become a honorary member at the board’s proposal. Honorary members have the right to participate in TEK’s activities and they have a vote.
TEK has been inviting honorary members since 1916 and there have been over 70 of them over the years.
The Panel of Working Architects (Työelämän arkkitehtiraati TAR) convenes TEK’s architect members to discuss and make proposals on issues related to the work life of architects. TEK’s committees and board consult the panel when making labour market decisions concerning architects. An executive committee directs the operations of the panel.
The executive committee considers matters from all four sectors: private, municipal, state and university.
Regional tech clubs (alueseura or teknillinen seura, in Finnish) form the core of TEK’s regional activities. Each year the regional clubs organise several events for their members, including presentations from the field of technology and other interesting activities.
TEK cooperates with its regional clubs by organising events and supporting their operations financially or in other ways.
You can find the contact information and possible joining instructions of the clubs on their websites. You are most welcome to join!
TEK's clubs offer a way of networking with other TEK members around shared interests. TEK’s clubs organise various events all over Finland and provide great opportunities for meeting new people. The clubs are open to all TEK members.
You can find the contact information and possible joining instructions of the clubs on their websites.
If you cannnot seem to find a club that fits you best, you can start one yourself! For more information on starting a club and on TEK’s club activities in general, contact Jukka Orava: jukka.orava@tek.fi.
You are most welcome to join!
Welcome to join TEK's network of sustainability educators!
Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland TEK invites all teachers, administrative staff and stakeholders who are interested in sustainability content in university education in technology to join a network of sustainability educators.
The network plans to organize webinars or in-person events 1–3 times a year on the topic of integrating sustainability themes in technology education. The network is also useful for sharing information, for example about upcoming events and reports on the topic. Belonging to the network does not bind you to anything, but guarantees that you will be among the first to know about interesting content.