“Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.”
Verna Myers
Finland´s integration program aims to strengthen inclusion in many ways. In 2015-2018, more than 30,000 integration plans were made in Finland. There are many ongoing projects in different municipalities. If you are interested in some of them take a look at the link below.
https://kotouttaminen.fi/osallisuus-ja-syrjaytymisen-ehkaiseminen
Finnish Refugee Council
Our working life organization Finnish Refugee Council (Pakolaisapu) offers many different tools and training to municipalities. Finnish refugee council tries to encourage with the Year of Integration Recognition those who are involved in integration work to develop and share good practices to promote integration. I think these information-based work and projects are really important to help both parties in the integration process. Mr. Ben Malin talked about two-way integration, in the integration process, both sides have to bent. The people who come from different countries need to learn and adapt some new rules and skills to start life in Finland. While the local peoples need to give space and try to understand the different culture.
“Integration cannot be achieved by the power of the public sector alone – we all need it. It has been a pleasure to see how many organizations and companies have enthusiastically joined the work supporting integration in recent years – we want to encourage and support this development, ”says Malinen.
Finnish refugee council offers possibilities to do voluntary works. Especially during the corona crisis Finish Refugee council, voluntary workers are helping adult immigrants with learning Finnish, studying, and finding work, and also helping kids with school work.
If you are interested in doing voluntary work and want to make a change in society you can contact vapaaehtoiset@pakolaisapu.fi. You can work as work-life mentors, global educators, volunteer advocates, puhutaan groups and Suomi-luotsit.
What can we do more?
There is always a need for development work in this field. It is important to encounter the client and make them feel that they are heard. Especially when we are talking about refugees, they are in a vulnerable position.
In my opinion, there could be more open feedback and discussion in different institutions, organizations, workplaces, and also at the political level. Social structures and municipal and provincial services, such as social and health services and employment services, play an important role in promoting inclusion.
Inclusion is strongly linked to well-being: the experience of low inclusion is associated with, among other things, severe mental strain, loneliness, and perceived poor work capacity. The experience of inclusion increases well-being, security, faith in the future, and one’s potential. The aim is to reduce inequality, poverty, exclusion, and discrimination. (Thl)
There is an interesting video about reinforcing inclusion
MONET provides unique, up-to-date expertise in support of the wellbeing of our culturally diverse population.
- They produce research and monitoring data on the culturally diverse population
- They support the reform of the service system and develop services for our culturally diverse population.
- provide influential and reliable expertise on cultural diversity for decision-makers
- The answer to questions on cultural diversity as part of THL’s special government services. (Thl)
This type of work is extremely important because usually minorities’ problems are not well recognized and seen in society. It is also important to acknowledge the needs of immigrant groups. In lots of cases, they need more peer support, religious communities, and also practical advice on how to integrate into society.
There are many NGO´s doing very important structural social work, here are some useful organizations which are doing wonderful work for immigrants with immigrants.
Amal Ry support and works for immigrant women empowerment, low threshold service for immigrants women. The aim is to strengthen the inclusion and get help from peer support.
Nicehearts also work for a better community and helps immigrant women and girls to find their place in this society. “All Nicehearts work is based on strong gender and culture sensitivity.”
The International working women of Finland help immigrants women’s to get work and by that integrate into society
Pixabay
Sourcess:
https://thl.fi/en/web/migration-and-cultural-diversity/contact/monet
Suurin osa Showcasen blogeista on toteutettu osana Laurean opintojaksoja. Koko koulutustarjontaamme voi tutustua nettisivuillamme. Tarjoamme kymmenien tutkintoon johtavien koulutuksien lisäksi myös paljon täydennys- ja erikoistumiskoulutuksia sekä yksittäisiä opintojaksoja avoimen AMK:n kautta!
This took me back to the huge project we did with NiceHearts, Global Clinic etc. 🙂
Alongside integration, there are also many other concepts such as the English terms inclusion, adaptation, adjustment, and absorption or assimilation. In general, it is a process during which a person who has moved from one country to another finds his or her own place in society and to act, which seems to be ‘immigrant incorporation.’ The prerequisite for success in Finland was considered to be the rapid adoption of the Finnish or Swedish language and the rules of the game in Finnish society. Huh… when in Rome.
Regular interaction between immigrants and Finns is one of the basic mechanisms of integration. Interpersonal forums, intercultural dialogue, the sharing of information about immigrants and their cultures, and the stimulating living conditions in urban environments promote interaction. I have spent time reading about these things these last few weeks, as I’ve been examining the situation of asylum seekers. When thinking of immigrants, I see that the topic of inclusion does not stray from the basics.
I think you’ve really nicely covered the topic of inclusion in this post and I quite enjoyed reading it. Thank you! 🙂