In cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, the Integration Foundation is launching a work-experience programme in the course of which a variety of state agencies will be offering work placements to students with mother tongues other than Estonian. The aim of the programme is to showcase employment opportunities in state agencies to the students and to encourage them to apply for positions in the public sector in the future.

‘The aim of the field of integration is to contribute to a cohesive society where everyone has the opportunity for maximum self-realisation. However, the proportion of people with a mother tongue other than Estonian working in the public sector is less than 3%, while in the society, those people make up more than 30%,’ said Piret Hartman, Undersecretary for Cultural Diversity of the Ministry of Culture. ‘The aim of the work-experience programme is to create faith in young people of other nationalities who could work in the public sector in the future and who are currently preparing for it. By creating diversity in the public sector, we can shape more broad-based policies and build a more sustainable state,’ Piret Hartman added.

Work-experience places will be offered to young people with mother tongues other than Estonian by the Government Office, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Culture, the Data Protection Inspectorate, the Land Board, the Health Board, the Health Insurance Fund, the Police and Border Guard Board, and the Integration Foundation. The work-experience tasks are related to, for example, the topics of data protection, management of state assets, environmental health, the employer’s branding, and other areas.

The places available and the terms for applying can be found online at praktikaprogramm.integratsioon.ee.

Applications are open to students from a variety of fields of study whose mother tongue is a language other than Estonian. Applicants must speak very good Estonian, have an interest in the field in question, be proactive in dealing with others and be prepared to take on exciting challenges.

The work experience will involve both independent and team tasks, with the participants being included in as much of the day-to-day work of the institutions as possible. Flexitime and remote working options will be available upon agreement. In addition to the experience the work placements provide, those taking part will also get the chance to attend training courses that will help them more effectively prepare for their future careers.

‘This work-experience programme, which is aimed at students with a mother tongue other than Estonian, is a springboard for those who are interested in familiarising themselves with working in the public sector but have doubts about whether their knowledge and skills are sufficient. We encourage young people to take part in our work-experience programme and meet with inspiring people,’ said Kätlin Kõverik, Head of the Counselling Service of the Integration Foundation. ‘State authorities, in return, receive information on how young people with a mother tongue other than Estonian perceive their field,’ Kätlin Kõverik added.

The work-experience programme will take place for the third time. A total of 21 young people speaking Russian, Estonian Russian, German, Azerbaijani, and Turkish as mother tongues have completed the work-experience programme in various ministries and state authorities.

The Supervisory Board of the Integration Foundation elected Dmitri Moskovtsev as the new director of the foundation this week as a result of a public competition. The new director will take office on 1 July. The current director Irene Käosaar will become the headmaster of the new Narva Estonian State High School.

‘The Integration Foundation plays an important role in making Estonia more cohesive. The team of the foundation is motivated and the range of its activities and services is wide. Thanks to the leadership of Irene Käosaar, the foundation is significantly more present in Ida-Viru County, but also in other regions of Estonia. The teaching of the Estonian language has also developed strongly. The role of the new director is to maintain the achieved results and expand the impact of the organisation, especially in the current situation where the refugee crisis in Ukraine poses additional challenges to society,’ said Piret Hartman, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Integration Foundation and Undersecretary for Cultural Diversity of the Ministry of Culture.

Dmitri Moskovtsev has been working in the Ministry of Finance since 2017 as a project manager in the field of public administration. In 2014–2017, Dmitri Moskovtsev worked in the Tallinn City Centre Government as the Chief Specialist of the City Property Department. He has actively contributed to social activities, being the founder and organiser of the TEDxLasnamäe conference in 2014–2018.

Dmitri Moskovtsev holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and governance and a master’s degree in political science from Tallinn University. In addition, he has completed a number of refresher training courses in management and policy-making.

‘Creating and maintaining a cohesive society is a common challenge for all of us. In order to achieve a greater impact, we must look for solutions and ways to involve more compatriots in the activities, especially people who speak Estonian as their mother tongue. A good example is the Language Friend programme organised by the foundation, within the framework of which hundreds of volunteer mentors help Estonian language learners to practice the language,’ said Dmitri Moskovtsev. ‘The Integration Foundation has an important role to play in the adaptation of refugees and in supporting their language learning, and local governments and communities across Estonia also need support in the field of integration in connection with the refugee crisis,’ Dmitri Moskovtsev added.

Irene Käosaar has been the director of the Integration Foundation since 1 September 2017 and will continue to contribute to the field of integration as the headmaster of the Narva Estonian State High School, which will be established in 2023.

The Integration Foundation is a state foundation established in 1998, which operates in the area of government of the Ministry of Culture and carries out various activities that promote integration and adaptation. The Integration Foundation has Estonian language houses in Tallinn and Narva, which offer free Estonian language and culture education to permanent Estonian residents and newly arrived immigrants. The foundation employs 49 people.

Today, on December 3rd, the Ministry of Culture and the Integration Foundation recognised the most outstanding promoters in the field of integration during 2020-2021. Awards in the field of integration were presented to the following: the non-profit Estonian Institute; Tiina Pärtel, the founder of the Found in Estonia podcast; the Estonian épée team; and the non-profit Sofiit-Klubi.

The purpose of these awards is to recognise those who have worked to establish contacts and develop cooperation between people with different mother tongues, and to find a common language among the various communities.

“The integration of Estonian society has been a consistent and positive process. However, concerns still exist that need to be addressed. The greatest challenge is how to create and support a common space where people of different nationalities can establish greater contacts among themselves, as well as stronger ties with Estonia. The people and organisations that have received the awards today have made an invaluable contribution to creating this common space,” said Minister of Culture Tiit Terik.

Award winners were announced in three categories. In each category, the winner, who were recognised as having made the greatest contribution in the field of integration, were awarded a prize of €1,000. This year, two prizes were awarded in the Spark of the Year category.

The prize in the Bridgebuilder of the Year category was awarded to the non-profit Estonian Institute, which implemented the Cultural Step programme, in order to bring people of different nationalities closer together and help those with a mother tongue other than Estonian to better understand Estonian society. A total of 341 training sessions were held in Russian and 91 in English. More than 1,500 people completed the full Cultural Step programme, during which they visited various museums and attended training sessions, became acquainted with the different regions and the natural resources of Estonia and communicated closely with Estonians. Watch the video. 

In the Messenger of the Year category, the integration award was won by Tiina Pärtel, who established the Found in Estonia podcast in order to introduce the foreigners that live here to Estonians through personal and humorous stories about their experiences. The jury’s assessment was that Found in Estonia is an excellent example of how to use state-of-the-art solutions to promote the theme of integration in an inspiring and effective way. The podcast started by Tiina Pärtel has been listened more than 15,000 times. Watch the video. 

This year, two winners were announced in the Spark of the Year category.

The first integration prize in the Spark of the Year category was awarded to the Estonian épée team members Julia Beljajeva, Erika Kirpu, Katrina Lehis and Irina Embrich. Winning the gold medal at the Olympics showed how sport can unite people and how successful a diverse team can be, when everyone's contribution is valued and everyone counts, regardless of any differences. The jury believes that this achievement provides an inspiring example for many and reminds us that we are only strong when we work together. Watch the video. 

The second winner in the Spark of the Year category is the non-profit Sofiit-Klubi, that produced Eduard Tee's bilingual play Slow Breathing. This show is about destinies, worries and joys that make one think about life and values. The intertwined lives of two women – one Estonian and the other Russian – reflect the historical context while, at the same time, caring and friendship help to better understand each other and overcome any conflicts. The performance is made especially lively by the decision not to translate the dialogue: the actors often speak in one language, respond in another – just like in in real life. Watch the video. 

A total of 18 applications were received for the integration projects competition for 2020-2021.

Photos of today’s integration awards ceremony are available HERE (photos by: Egert Kamenik).

The Integration Foundation has been awarding prizes for development projects in the field of integration since 1999 and for media projects since 2009. The competition for prizes in the field of integration for 2020-2021 are financed by the Ministry of Culture.

The Integration Foundation held a conference entitled ‘30 Years of Integration: Success Stories, Challenges and Unused Opportunities’ in Tallinn on 11 & 12 November, 2021. The two-day conference included speeches and discussions in which experts, researchers, policy-shapers and representatives of civil society organisations were analyzing the integration processes implemented in Estonia and other countries over the last 30 years, summarising achievements and setbacks and discussing what still needs to be done to foster a more cohesive society.

Conference presentations are available on The Integration Foundation Youtube channel:

• In Estonian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWXBhjhBhUo&list=PL5C1FzK7UafmktU5QhIIR…
• In English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_uZgW_o-dA&list=PL5C1FzK7UafnluU-KMZRA…
• In Russian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbrx4HVUfaY&list=PL5C1FzK7UafmvDONbqRff…

The conference recording is available in the Worksup environment until February 12, 2022: https://worksup.com/app#id=INTEGRATION

Conference photos are visible here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/jH2msy8sqsKLKuMG7

The Integration Foundation is organising a conference entitled ‘30 Years of Integration: Success Stories, Challenges and Unused Opportunities’ to be held in Tallinn on 11 & 12 November. The event will bring together internationally recognised experts from Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and of course Estonia. Registration is now open online at integrationconference.ee. Attendance is upon presentation of a COVID certificate, but the conference will also be livestreamed.

The two-day conference will include speeches and discussions in which experts, researchers, policy-shapers and representatives of civil society organisations will be analysing the integration processes implemented in Estonia and other countries over the last 30 years, summarising achievements and setbacks and discussing what still needs to be done to foster a more cohesive society.

A total of 15 speakers will be presenting at the conference. They include:

• Adrian Favell, the Chair in Sociology and Social Theory at the University of Leeds and chercheur associé of the Centre for European Studies at Sciences Po in Paris, who will be discussing bias in integration research in the West and suggesting ways of avoiding it;
• Birgit Glorius, a Professor for Human Geography with a focus on European migration research at the EUROPA Institute of Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany, who will be analysing German reunification;
• Lithuanian Social Research Centre (Institute for Ethnic Studies) and NGO Diversity Development Group researcher Giedrė Blažytė, University of Latvia Doctor of Social Sciences Inese Šūpule and political scientist and City of Helsinki Urban Research and Statistics Unit Senior Researcher Pasi Saukkonen, who will be speaking about the experiences of neighbouring countries in the field of integration over the last 30 years; and
• Estonian researchers Marju Lauristin, Raivo Vetik, Kats Kivistik and Triin Vihalemm, who will be analysing 20 years of integration monitoring and discussing changes in Estonian society in recent decades.

The working language of the conference will be Estonian, with simultaneous interpreting into English and Russian. To register, and to access the full programme and list of speakers, go to the conference website. Participation is free of charge but requires advance registration.

Attendance is upon presentation of a COVID certificate. Rapid testing will be available at the venue from 8:30-10:30 on 11 November, for which you will be charged 10 euros.

The event is being held on 11 & 12 November in the conference centre at Sokos Hotel Viru. The 2021 conference is the eighth in the series.

The conference will be livestreamed on the integrationconference.ee website.

The event is being run by the Integration Foundation in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture.