QueerMieli is Nyyti’s three-year project (2024-2026) for promoting mental health among LGBTIQA+ students. The aim is to support mental wellbeing among LGBTIQA+ students within higher education, to increase awareness about the consequences of minority stress and to promote good praxis for improving LGBTIQA+ accessibility together with the university community.
Peer Support for LGBTIQA+ Students
The aim of the peer support activities is to support the mental wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ students. The activities strengthen the skills to recognize minority stress and the resilience to cope with such experiences. The groups provide a space for sharing experiences, thoughts and ways to take care of one’s mental wellbeing in a safe peer community. The peer support group activities will start in the autumn 2024.
Key principles and approaches for the group activities are confidentiality, accessibility, resource orientation, anti-racism and intersectionality.
The activities will foremostly be in Finnish. Read more about the peer support groups here!
Trainings for Professionals and Students
The training activities aims at increasing the awareness about minority stress and its effects on mental health. The trainings are targeted at professionals working within higher education and actives within student organizations. We will provide tools for identifying structures that fuel minority stress and for promoting equality and social cohesion. The training activities will start in the autumn 2024.
Advocacy Work for Inclusive Campuses
The aim of the advocacy activities is to improve accessibility for LGBTIQA+ students within the study environment. This includes creating a description of structures and practices that may cause experiences of minority stress among LGBTIQA+ students, and collecting good practices for making higher education environments more inclusive. This will be done through facilitated dialogues during 2025, between LGBTIQA+ experts by experience, student organizations and professionals within higher education.