In January 2025, major changes were implemented in Finland regarding labor market and integration services. The operations of the employment areas began, and a new Integration Act entered into force. One positive aspect of the new Integration Act is that municipalities and employment services are now required to offer civic orientation to people who move to Finland and become integration clients. Comparable civic orientation has existed in Sweden and some other European countries for decades.

Moving to another country and becoming part of a new society is not always easy. If one comes from a distant culture, there is much that is different and new to learn. The purpose of civic orientation is to facilitate this learning process. According to a Government Decree, 70 hours of civic orientation must be provided in the client’s mother tongue or in a language they understand well.

Training for those who will lead civic orientation has been arranged in Finnish for a couple of years already. A need for leader training for persons who have integrated in Swedish was identified, which led RDI Health & Welfare to apply for funding from the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland and Amos Anderson’s Foundation. Thanks to a positive funding decision, the project Leader Training for Multilingual Civic Orientation could be launched, and a pilot group began their studies in spring 2025.

The group met online once a week and covered the themes that civic orientation must include according to the Government Decree:

1. the values and norms of Finnish society and key legislation,
2. fundamental and human rights as well as equality,
3. gender equality and sexual rights,
4. the objectives of integration and integration-promoting services,
5. employment and entrepreneurship as well as the labour market,
6. education and study opportunities,
7. organisational and voluntary activities and participation,
8. financial planning and other aspects of everyday life,
9.  the history and culture of Finland.

The state-run KEHA Centre has published material for civic orientation as well as a handbook for facilitators. The material is available on the website: https://yhteiskuntaorientaatio.fi/en/home

In addition to the above-mentioned themes, the group worked with the material “Lära och leda” to practice lesson planning and leading group activities, including at a distance and with the help of interpreters. The course also included a practical training session, and four of the course participants completed their placement at Novia UAS in English. In Raseborg, Natural Resources students learned more about working life in Finland and job seeking, and in Vaasa, first-year students in Nursing, Beauty Care, and Biomedical Laboratory Science received useful information about Finland and everyday life. Other placement organisations included Luckan in Helsinki, the Adult Education Institute in Mariehamn, the City of Närpes, and Romport Employment Lab in Jakobstad.

The participants in the leader training came from all over Swedish-speaking Finland and are able to conduct civic orientation in fourteen different languages. Many of them work in the field of integration, which resulted in enriching discussions and exchanges of experience within the group. Seven of the students completed all course components during the autumn semester of 2025 and are the first to have completed leader training in civic orientation in Swedish. We wish them good luck with their assignments around Finland.

In total, three Civic Orientation facilitator trainings and one MindSpring trainer course are included in the project.

References:

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment (2024). Study on alternatives for implementing multilingual civic orientation (In Finnish). https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/70dab5b2-9f96-4132-acaa-5ef518bfb788/content

Government Decree on Multilingual Civic Orientation (2024). Proposal for a Legislative Bill (In Finnish). https://tem.fi/paatos?decisionId=2395