Let´s get to know each other: Local government level community events in the field of international protection

GOOD PRACTICES

Let´s get to know each other: Local government level community events in the field of international protection

Creating an environment in which refugees, other foreigners and locals can come together, meet and socialize.

Date:

18/03/2020

Contributor:

States, Civil society organizations

The project in brief

Implemented by

Ministry of the Interior / MTÜ Pagulasabi (Estonian Refugee Council)

Country

Estonia

Duration

October 1, 2017 - March 31, 2019.

Description

TITLE: Saame tuttavaks! Kohaliku tasandi koostööüritused rahvusvahelise kaitse valdkonnas (Let´s get to know each other! Local government level community events in the field of international protection)

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the project was to create an environment in which refugees, other foreigners and locals can come together, meet and socialize.

Project aims

The aims of the project are:

to increase the collective awareness of forced migration and adaption/early integration processes among Estonian society
to increase the sense of unity of local communities and openness towards people who have been granted international protection in Estonia
to increase active participation in community events of people who have been granted international protection in Estonia.

Resources used

AMIF funds

Partners

Partner NGOs: Johannes Mihkelson Centre, International House Tartu, Estonian Roundtable for Development Cooperation
Local governments all over Estonia

Challenges and how they were overcome

Challenges

The main challenge encountered was the fact that there are rather few refugees in Estonia, especially who speak Estonian and/or English and who are interested in attending and selling their products/offering services/sharing their experiences at such events.

Also, there are areas, such as islands or some peripheral areas, which don´t have any refugees and few people with a migrant background in general. At the same time, in these areas, there was a lot of interest for such events and local cafes contacted the project partners for further cooperation.

How they were overcome

In order to overcome the lack of potential participants with a refugee status, same people participated for various events in different areas of Estonia. This gave chance for locals in remote areas or areas where there are no refugees, to meet and get to know each other through the community events.