Asko Takala was re-elected as Chair of the Executive Board of the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA for 2025. Three new members were appointed to the Board while Hille Kaukonen was elected a new Deputy Chair. The full membership fee for 2025 was set at EUR 508. At the last meeting of its term, the Council also made policy decisions regarding its previously launched reform project.
SAFA’s Delegates Council convened in the Guild House for the last meeting of its term. Elections for the new 31-strong Council will be held in the spring, preceded by municipal elections in April. SAFA’s Secretary General Arja Lukin strongly urged members to stand as candidates in both elections.
“This spring will see two elections, so now is a real opportunity to have a say. The least we can do is to vote in both elections,” Lukin said.
The theme selected for the 2025 SAFA elections is sustainable economy, a subject closely linked to municipal elections. In the context of architecture, the term is perceived as a tool for generating welfare sustainably.
“We will challenge the property and construction sector and highlight exemplary projects and deeds”, she said.
In his presentation, SAFA’s Chair of the Executive Board Asko Takala described 2024 as an eventful year. Progress on the Association’s reform project has been made on a broad front. The construction sector is also in transition as a result of new legislative projects.
“The new Construction Act will soon enter into force. While all of SAFA’s objectives were not written into law, my impression is that there is now greater understanding among decision-makers of the impacts of planning and construction,” Takala reported.
Pursuant to the proposal of SAFA’s Election Committee, Asko Takala was unanimously re-elected as Chair of the Executive Board for 2025. Additionally, there are two Deputy Chairs on the Board at any given time. Raine Vihelmaa will serve an additional term as Deputy Chair while Hille Kaukonen, Planning Development Manager at Skanska, assumed the position of the other Deputy Chair.
New board members as of 2025 are Pia Kilpinen, Robin Landsdorff and Riikka Kuittinen. Juha Hovinen, Henri Raitio, Eeva Korhonen, Panu Latvala, Santeri Nuotio and Otto Haarala will serve a second term on the Board.
Each year, the Election Committee proposes candidates for appointment to the Executive Board, Ethics Committee and permanent committees. The current Election Committee, chaired by Eva Geitel, will continue its term until a new Delegates Council is elected at the end of May.
Despite the high inflation rate during the past few years, SAFA’s membership fee has remained more or less unchanged. As a result, the Association has been running a deficit in recent years. Membership fees account for about half of SAFA’s revenue.
Financial Director Heikki Hassel of Azets, which manages SAFA’s finances, reported in his budget review that the only way to achieve a substantial financial impact was to cut staff costs. Next year we will be facing a EUR 100,000 cut in payroll costs in the SAFA office, equivalent to approx. 10 per cent of all staff costs.
The Board’s proposal to increase the membership fee only for the lowest fee category inspired a debate both for and against. A vote was taken resulting in an index-linked 1.8% increase across the board. Additionally, the lowest-category fee was increased from 25 to 30 per cent of the full membership fee. The full membership fee for 2025 is EUR 508.
However, Hassel went on to say that there are no major concerns about the Association’s economy because both expenses and revenue flows are relatively predicable and the financial position is sound.
At the beginning of its term in 2022, the Delegates Council launched a project to modernise the Association. At the end of its term, the Council passed a number of resolutions regarding structural changes,services and ways of working. The structural changes are also expected to reduce administrative costs to some extent in the future.
Some of the reforms can be implemented as early as next year. However, the Delegates Council still has a long list of rules and guidelines that need to be decided upon at two consecutive meetings until SAFA’s new rules – and new organisation – can officially be adopted as of the beginning of 2026.
Decision-making powers within SAFA will be devolved, and the role of its Board as a decision-maker and executive organ will be strengthened. In future, elections will be held every four years. Moreover, the strategic role of the Council – the current Delegates Council – will be expanded.
The revised publication policy adopted earlier will be implemented in the coming year. As a result, the Finnish Architectural Review and the Arkkitehtiuutiset magazine will be merged. The redesigned ark.fi website and newsletter will be launched in the autumn. The print edition will be published in its new format as of 2026. New commercial concepts are also being developed to increase advertising revenues.
Following the adoption of the new magazine concept, the roles of SAFA’s communications unit and publications will be clarified. The safa.fi website will provide information on the Association’s activities, decision-making and services, whereas the contents of the Finnish Architectural Review and its website will be selected on journalistic grounds.
While the number of local chapters (13) will remain unchanged, departments will divided into three larger regions. Three regional coordinates will develop cooperation and promote joint inter-departmental projects within their respective regions. The plan is to test this way of working already next autumn.