The Finnish municipality of Kuopio is now the sixth Finnish city to participate in the EU / CoE joint project ‘Building an inclusive integration approach in Finland’*.

Kuopio, as a city with long experience in migrant reception, will work with 5 other Finnish municipalities participating in the project to promote the implementation of local integration strategies which reflect the Finnish Good Relations and the CoE intercultural integration principles. The participating municipalities receive support and guidance to:

• set up a cross-sectorial working group;
• complete the ICC Index and receive recommendations through an Index Report;
• receive an “Expert Visit” and the recommendations resulting from that visit; and
• draft a local integration strategy or other relevant tools reflecting the Good Relations and intercultural integration concepts

All participating municipalities also benefit from several training sessions which will be tailored to the needs of the participants, a study visit to another EU or Council of Europe member state as well as support in creating structures and policies for the implementation of the Good Relations and intercultural integration concepts at the local level.

*The joint project “Building an inclusive integration approach in Finland” is co-funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument and the Council of Europe, and implemented by the Council of Europe in co-operation with the European Commission.