On the second day of pre-voting, April 3, TEK’s Group for International Experts (GIE) hosted the first-ever English-language Election Panel on Teams. You can access the recording via this link.
The reason for the panel discussion is clear: Finland needs international experts. Cities play a crucial role in welcoming these individuals and their families, as well as supporting their integration. At the same time, for immigrants to successfully integrate into our society, it is essential to understand how the Nordic welfare system operates and how its basic services are delivered at the local level.
We were privileged to have five highly experienced politicians as panellists: Otso Kivekäs (The Greens), Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (SDP), Jouni Markkanen (National Coalition Party), Sakari Puisto (Finns Party), and Nick Walters (Left Alliance).
Juhani Nokela and Owain Hopeaketo from TEK prepared questions that highlighted various tools cities can use to support the integration and employment of international experts.
One recurring issue is language: the lack of language skills and insufficient opportunities to learn Finnish or Swedish. It was also acknowledged that immigrants are an extremely diverse group, and the variety of services they require needs to be better understood. Furthermore, the 3- or 6-month "kick-out" rules for individuals who have already worked in Finland, as well as the prolonged timelines for citizenship, were deemed unacceptable.
The panellists proposed several solutions, including anonymous recruitment, integration courses offered in both Finnish and Swedish, and stronger municipal support for language training. They emphasized the importance of providing language courses during working hours, not just in the evenings, and extending these opportunities to spouses as well. Education was identified as a critical factor, with a call for more teachers, including immigrant teachers. Segregation in schools must be avoided at all costs, and there should be no classes exclusively for immigrant children.
The debate was not limited solely to key questions of immigration, integration, and employment—or how to attract international experts and ensure they’ll stay in Finland. While some of the panellists had profound knowledge of IT and local governance, the challenge of streamlining processes and using available data more efficiently in cities also came up.
After the elections, TEK will inform the newly elected city and county councils of some of the questions and possible answers discussed here.
Kaarin Taipale
PhD (Urban Studies), Chair of TEK’s Group for International Experts