VLR report part 7: Vantaa is international

Integration and multiculturalism are significant and important themes for Vantaa, and a great deal of development work is being carried out around them. In Vantaa, multiculturalism is seen as an asset and integration as a two-way process, in which attention is also paid to the receptivity of society.

In 2023, a new integration programme for the 2023–2026 period was approved. The programme is built on the framework of the Integrating Cities Charter launched by Eurocities, which examines integration from four different perspectives: the city as an employer and promoter of employment, the city as a provider of services, the city as a purchaser of goods and services, and the city as a promoter of inclusion. The programme has compiled numerous different measures and objectives under these themes. Through this international connection, Vantaa is involved in monitoring the progress of integration at the European level.

Vantaa’s strengths in promoting integration include efficient basic services, multilingual instructors in schools and needs-based resourcing. The city actively collaborates with stakeholders such as organisations, and various recreational opportunities and libraries offer many ways to participate and meet other people.

The city has invested in plain-language communication and increased plain-language information provision. From 2023, plain language will be one of the city’s official communication languages, along with Finnish, Swedish and English. The city offers its personnel plain-language courses, which have been popular. In collaboration with Vantaan Sanomat, the City of Vantaa publishes the Selkovantaalainen local newspaper, which is Finland’s first plain-language local newspaper. The city website has separate plain-language pages that provide information about the city’s services, direct people to other services and publish news stories from Selkovantaalainen.

Successful integration requires continuous work, as new residents are constantly moving to Vantaa and most of the city’s growth is made up of immigrants who speak foreign languages. That is why the importance of early-stage services is emphasised in development work. With the new Integration Act, overall responsibility for organising integration services has been transferred to municipalities, which increases the need to develop a functional and clear set of initial services. There are many services, but the overall picture has been fragmented, and services are produced by a diverse group of actors. Network cooperation will be intensified so that services operate in a customer-oriented and efficient manner.

During 2024, preparations were made for the new Integration Act by developing an integration programme that offers customers a range of services that promote integration. The goal for 2025 is to create a city-level coordination model for integration services, which will facilitate understanding of the system and the development of the service offering.

Key challenges in Vantaa include the social exclusion of young people and its prevention, providing sufficient and diverse Finnish language instruction to people in different life situations, the relatively low employment rate of foreign-language speakers, and the low availability of affordable rental housing. These are broad challenges that connect to many other themes in this report, such as the prevention of segregation prevention, well-being work and vitality work. As such, the integration programmes objectives and measures emphasise broad cross-administrative cooperation.

The ‘Involving parents in school and working life’ project by the Vantaa Employment and Integration Services is aimed at parents who have immigrated to the country. It is part of the City of Vantaa’s Regional Programme of Positive Action 2023–2025. The activities have been carried out in cooperation with basic education and early childhood education. In the model, parents participate in guided group activities led by an S2 coach four days a week for four hours, and they can also take part with young children. The activities are organised in Finnish and last for a school year, during which participants get to know the region, its services and society. The aim is to help participants find a path to further studies or working life. During the spring term, parents have the opportunity to get acquainted with working life through work trials. Through the activities, participants will become active in planning their own lives and be heard as individuals.

For some of each week, parents have the opportunity to participate in primary education classes together with schoolchildren or in early childhood education groups. By participating in primary education or early childhood education activities, parents learn more Finnish in daily encounters with both children and adults. They gain first-hand experience and knowledge of the Finnish school system and are introduced to working life. The activities also increase understanding of the field of education and the significance of the work.

Parents who might otherwise spend their days at home gain an important peer community and experiences of inclusion. Furthermore, the activities also strengthen cooperation between the home and school or early childhood education, increase trust and provide more opportunities for immigrant parents to support their children in school.

The activities strengthen families’ resources and increase the ability of parents to take responsibility for their children’s growth opportunities. The Finnish-language proficiency of parents in the context of day-to-day living and working life as well as skills related to studies and working life are also strengthened. They receive support from an S2 coach in planning their further paths and in accessing working life and education. Their integration into Finnish society is strengthened.

Even though the project is intended for all immigrant parents, most of the participants are mothers. Special attention has recently been paid to supporting the employment and integration of immigrant women, for example in connection with the comprehensive reform of the Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration, as the employment rate of immigrant women is lower in Finland than in the other Nordic countries and also lower than that of immigrant men or of women of the original population. In particular, the project supports the learning of the Finnish language, integration, strengthening one’s identity, and access to education and working life among immigrant women. This is of key importance for children’s opportunities in terms of education and working life.

The SMILE project is a successful example of how the integration of immigrants can be promoted through concrete and effective measures. The main objective of the project was to strengthen cooperation between families, communities and local services in Vantaa. This collaboration yielded practices that not only support the integration of individuals but also increase the well-being of the entire community.

Tsemppari working life coaching was one of the key achievements of the project. The coaching provided personal support to 445 participants, many of whom had been unemployed for a long time. Local organisations provided services in the customers’ native languages, taking into account their cultural backgrounds. As a result of the working life coaching, 54 participants found employment and eight became entrepreneurs. The training strengthened the participants ability to function more independently in Finnish society. It helped families in a comprehensive way, which has increased community spirit and trust between organisations, participants and the city.

Schools play an important role in terms of integration. The SMILE project promoted close cooperation between schools, families and communities by organising parents’ evenings, hobby information and joint events. Schools serve as regional meeting places in which parents and school employees can build mutual trust. In particular, the Lehtikuusi School’s Living Room and Homework Help activities showed how simple but well-planned measures can lead to major impacts. 

One of the most innovative parts of the project was the roundtable dialogues. In these dialogues, immigrant communities, city services and local decision-makers came together to openly discuss needs and solutions. In Hakunila, for example, these discussions led to concrete measures, such as Homework Help, digital support and the development of hobby activities for women and girls.

The operating models created in the SMILE project, such as Tsemppari working life coaching and regional dialogues, can be easily scaled to other municipalities and communities. The project not only increased the quantitative outcomes of integration, such as employment and participation in education, but also changed the way multiculturalism is approached. Its success was based on local commitment, open dialogue and consideration of individual needs, which help create permanent structures to support integration.

The agency of foreign-language-speaking families and communities was central to the SMILE activities. Instead of viewing them as just a target group, they should be seen as active forces. This approach is an important part of achieving sustainable integration, and integration is a community process that benefits all parties.

Vantaa is a member of the Eurocities network of large European cities, which includes over 200 cities. The network is funded by its member cities, and the secretariat that coordinates its activities is located in Brussels. Eurocities offers its member cities extensive opportunities to share their best practices and supervise the EU-level interests of the cities.

As part of supervising interest and sharing best practices, the Eurocities network has six forums focusing on different thematic areas, which organise their annual seminars in member cities. These are the main events of the Eurocities network, in addition to the annual meeting. One of the forums is the Social Affairs Forum, which focuses on social issues, including education, employment, immigration and integration, and housing.

In June 2024, Vantaa organised the annual seminar of the Eurocities Social Affairs Forum under the theme ‘Co-Creating Tomorrow’’s Cities: Joining Forces for Social Innovation.’ The seminar was attended by approximately 180 people from Eurocities member cities across Europe and from EU institutions.

The three-day programme included panel discussions and workshops seeking solutions to the challenges presented by different cities. At the “market event,” social sector start-ups presented their activities to city representatives. During the seminar, ways to support Ukraine were also introduced. During the conference, guests were also able to learn about the good practices and social innovations of the City of Vantaa by visiting the city’s sites. 

Vantaa engages in a great deal of international cooperation in various sectors and at city level through many different networks. Education Coordinator Pia Hakkari, what kind of international collaboration do you and your colleagues engage in in the field of education and learning?

We have had the opportunity to be involved in many types of cooperation, which has enriched our work in many ways. A good example of this is the Erasmus cooperation. Vantaa’s administration for basic education has received Erasmus+ accreditation for 2024–2027, which means that we are committed to long-term compliance with the requirements and principles of the Erasmus+ programme. Many of these are related to sustainable development!

The goals of Erasmus cooperation are extensive. Within this framework, we invest in students’ well-being through emotional and interaction skills, as well as in diverse learning and competence, which includes digital skills and the development of literacy. Erasmus accreditation also aims for a sustainable future, which includes environmental responsibility, eco-social education and sustainable development.

We strive to invest in sustainable mobility and travel. Erasmus study trips are planned throughout the country to provide teachers with supplementary training and job shadowing visits (i.e. shadowing a colleague at work), all the way to the Lofoten Islands and Brussels. The theme has also been addressed in individual schools and, for example, through an elective course at Hämeenkylä School, students were able to plan and carry out an overland trip to Denmark.

What else have you been able to do in relation to internationalism and sustainable development?

We had a great opportunity at the education and learning services to organise international days for general education in Vantaa in 2024 with the Finnish National Board of Education. The theme was ‘Globally local – giving wings to education.’ The event was attended by roughly 200 teachers, principals, educators and administration experts from all over Finland who were interested in internationality and a sustainable future. Participants were also introduced to the linguistically and culturally diverse City of Vantaa.

The international event looked towards the future and coming generations. The programme offered participants different perspectives on the current and future global world, introductory visits to international Vantaa, networking and sharing of information. Together, we also considered the importance of domestic internationality as a resource for the learning community and how children and young people can be supported on their journey of growth as global citizens.