Virtual integration home - promoting inclusion and empowerment digitally

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-A Finland-Estonia-Latvia-Sweden (Central Baltic)

Date of latest update: 2025-01-21

Description

Description (EN):

The pandemic was a challenge for organizations that provide face-to-face integration services for migrants. It showed that there is a need to modernize integration services and develop them to meet the mode of action of today. The biggest challenges are not access to equipment or the digital skills of the service users, but the services themselves: How to turn the communicative, active and participative nature of individual and group-based integration services into the virtual, digital world? The main objective of VINCE is to develop and improve public integration services. The project will develop a joint model of a virtual integration center, containing both existing and new integration services. The model is coded into a digital platform that forms a technical basis for developing prototype platforms for the partners, according to their local needs. Some of the integration services will be common for all participating organizations, for example native and easy-language health advise material, open discussion groups in native languages etc. Other services will be designed more specifically for the participating organizations. The center will promote two-way integration processes in communities. The model and the platform will be done in co-creation with the target group (migrants) and service providers in order to ensure their inclusion and maximize the adequacy of the platform. During the project, new networks between integration organizations are established which enables sharing of material, knowledge and good practices. The integration center model that is compiled and described will support new organizations in establishing their own integration center. Municipalities, NGOs and other organizations that work in the field of integration will benefit from the project. Total budget 2 599 443 euro. Budget per partner: TUAS 659 932, Turku 548 535, Sateenkaari Koto 272 319, FMC 731 582, CAB-O 387 075.

Actual Achievements (EN):

During this first period of the project, the first prototype of the mobile application was developed. A significant decision was to prioritize mobile platforms for the time being. This choice stemmed from the fact that most migrants lack access to desktop or laptop devices, not to mention VR devices. It was also decided to exclude children and illiterate end-users for the time being. These decisions were made in cooperation with all partners. The process of mapping the needs of the end users started, as well as the planning of the first workshops for end-users and organizations. The Finnish partners arranged a first service design training in September 2023. Tentative discussions about the local organizations’ demands for virtual integration services have been held in both Finland and Sweden. Data management issues were discussed extensively. Since the project deals with a vulnerable target group, it is crucial that the amount of personal data that is gathered by the mobile application is limited to only the most basic information. To ensure secure data management, the Lead partner used the expert knowledge of Turku UAS’s data management staff, and these discussions will continue during the project. Ethics issues and permissions have been considered as an important part of the project. Many of the activities during the first reporting period were of administrative character: The Subsidy contract and the Partnership agreement were signed and a kick-off meeting for all project partners was held in April 2023 (as a hybrid meeting). Partner meetings were held each month except from the summer months (mainly as online meetings), and both Finnish partners and the Swedish partners met separately a couple of times to discuss issues regarding the local cooperation and the connections to the target groups. A communications team, with representatives from all partners has been formed. Information about the project is visible on all partners’ websites and the webspace that is provided by Central Baltic has been put into use. Sateenkaari Koto presented the project for the public and for its target groups during Turku Day in September 2023, and the project staff has been actively promoting the project on LinkedIn. Representatives for the Lead partner took part in Central Baltic’s Lead partner seminar in Helsinki, and in September 2023 the Swedish partners visited Turku. The first internal evaluation was sent to the project staff at the end of September 2023 (see annex). As Lead partner, Turku UAS provided guidance for the other project partners regarding administrative, financial, communication and reporting issues. Turku UAS also compiled an application for national co-funding on behalf of all three Finnish project partners. During period 2, the activities of the projects were mostly concentrated on gathering basic information needed for the application, and on further developing the prototype version of the app. A service map, with information about what kind of services the partners provide for migrants at the moment, was compiled and analyzed (draft version attached). The service map will be used when deciding on which services will be provided jointly in the app. Workshops for NGOs and organizations were arranged by Turku, Turku UAS and FMC, and workshops for migrants were arranged by Sateenkaari Koto and FMC (FMC’s workshops were arranged in cooperation with CAB-O). The overall style of the VINCE application and its user interface was further developed, and the optimizing of mobile features for virtual environments was making significant progress. A 3D meeting space was designed, modelled, optimized, and included in the app. Another space, a Nordic home -inspired room was designed and modelled (although it still needs to be optimized before it is included in the app). AI-powered language service providers have been discussed but no decision has been made yet. All most up-to-date and high-end neural machine translators charge money per real-time language translation, so the costs must be considered before making the decision. There was also an ongoing discussion about data management and privacy issues related to the app. During this period, meetings between FMC’s health communicators and Turku’s native language advisors were arranged. The purpose was to create contacts between the Finnish and Swedish staff members, who work directly with the end users, and gather information about the needs of the migrants in Finland and Sweden. Sateenkaari Koto’s new project coordinator was also invited to the later of these meetings. Starting from January 2024, a communication team gathered for online meetings. The team consists of representatives for all partners, and its purpose is to plan and coordinate the communication activities of the project. The team updated the communication plan (attached), agreed on the schedule and content of upcoming blog posts and started thinking about how to market the app when it is ready for public use. Project news and blog posts have been published on the project webspace, and some of the posts have also been published using the partners’ own channels and on staff members’ personal LinkedIn accounts. Information about the project’s communication activities and links to posts have been uploaded to the attachment section of this report. Partner online meetings were held approximately once a month, and the first steering group meeting was held in December 2023 (steering group memo attached). In November 2023, the Finnish partners visited Sweden and got acquainted with the working environment and cooperation network of the Swedish partners. A second internal evaluation was carried out in April 2024. A summary and a comparison of the first and second evaluation can be found as an attachment to this report.

Project outputs: Virtual counselling for migrants(EN)
AI based language services(EN)
Virtual integration home(EN)
Website: https://centralbaltic.eu/project/vince/

Thematic information

Demographic change and immigration

Priority: (VI-A_CB_P4) Improved public services

Priority specific objective: ISO6.1. Enhance the institutional capacity of public authorities, in particular those mandated to manage a specific territory, and of stakeholders (all strands)

Priority policy objective (Interreg specific objective): PO6 (ISO1) A better cooperation governance

Type of intervention: 173 Enhancing institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders to implement territorial cooperation projects and initiatives in a cross-border, transnational, maritime and inter-regional context

Partners (5)

Lead Partner: Turun ammattikorkeakoulu Oy

Partner’s ID if not PIC: FI25281603

Department: Social Inclusion and Active Citizenship -research group

Address: Joukahaisenkatu, 20520 Turku, Finland

Department address: Joukahaisenkatu, 20520 Turku, Finland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.turkuamk.fi

Total budget: EUR 647 798.26

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 518 238.60

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 129 559.66

Contractors:

Name: KMG/Printworks Finland
VAT registration or tax identification number: FI15150239
Name: Verkkokauppa.com
VAT registration or tax identification number: FI14563445

Länsstyrelsen Östergötland

Name: Länsstyrelsen Östergötland

Department: Unit for Social Sustainability

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 202100-2270

Address: Östgötagatan, 58186 Linköping, Sweden

Department address: Östgötagatan, 58186 Linköping, Sweden

Legal status: public

Organisation type: National public authority

Website: http://www.lansstyrelsen.se

Total budget: EUR 336 586.80

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 269 269.44

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 67 317.36

Region Östergötland, Flyktingmedicinskt centrum

Name: Region Östergötland, Flyktingmedicinskt centrum

Department: Local Healthcare in western Östergötland

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SE232100004001

Address: Vrinnevisjukhuset, 60182 Norrköping, Sweden

Department address: Vrinnevisjukhuset, 60182 Norrköping, Sweden

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Regional public authority

Website: https://www.1177.se/Ostergotland/hitta-vard/kontaktkort/Flyktingmedicinskt-centrum-Norrkoping/

Total budget: EUR 546 459.54

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 437 167.63

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 109 291.91

Sateenkaari Koto ry

Name: Sateenkaari Koto ry

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 1468795-8

Address: Perhetalo Heideken, Sepänkatu, 20700 Turku, Finland

Department address: Finland

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Interest groups including NGOs

Website: http://www.sateenkaarikoto.fi

Total budget: EUR 272 319.80

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 217 855.84

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 54 463.96

Turun kaupunki

Name: Turun kaupunki

Department: Immigrant Services

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 0204819-8

Address: Olavintie, 20700 Turku, Finland

Department address: Olavintie, 20700 Turku, Finland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Local public authority

Website: http://www.turku.fi

Total budget: EUR 411 348.07

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 329 078.45

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 82 269.62

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Virtual integration home - promoting inclusion and empowerment digitally

Project acronym: VINCE

Project ID: CB0100043

Project start date: 2023-04-01

Project end date: 2026-03-31

Project status: ongoing

Relevant linked projects:

WoHealth − Empowering immigrant women in supporting their and their families' health and wellbeing (Central Baltic 2019-21) (EN) | The project WoHealth aimed at empowerment of women in their knowledge and skills in health and wellbeing issues, by means of education and peer support, in Finland and in Sweden. To reach this goal the project organized workshops/study groups, created and tested a training program for peer supporters and developed easy-access, easy-to-read material in relevant topics. The material aimed at improving collaboration between migrant clients and health care professionals e.g. in children and maternity clinics and Refugee Health Centers.
VINCE will use the experiences and knowledge gathered in WoHealth and continue to develop virtual solutions that support integration and inclusion of migrants. (EN), MESH - Employing immigrants via networks and mentoring (ESF 2019-21) (EN) | The project aimed at supporting international talents, positioning into the Finnish labor market. The goal of the project was to develop models and practices of mentoring and utilization of networks. The partnership consisted of TUAS, Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Tampere University of Applied Sciences, KU Leuven (Belgium), Economic House of Osteende (Belgium) and Beyond the Horizon (Belgium). In the project, a lot was learned about diversity of challenges in integration, and these experiences can be used in VINCE. (EN), BERRIES – to encourage Integration of Immigrants through the Health and well-being (EUSA/AMIF, 2017-19) (EN) | The aim of the project was to promote the integration of migrants and their health and wellbeing, develop the know-how of the third sector and the professionals working in the field (also future professionals). The project developed the co-operation between all actors to enhance the services of migrants.
The experiences from this project will be utilized when developing models for cooperation with NGOs and other organizations in the field of integration and inclusion. (EN), PELIMO – Possibilities of gamification in multicultural education (Finnish National Agency for Education 2019-21) (EN) | The project scanned existing material of cultural diversity and created a tool for gamifying it. In the project, TUAS, Humak UAS and Brahea Centre at the University of Turku developed a game, aimed at grades 4–6. It is available at the game shops, for free.
The experiences from this project will be used both when developing the virtual platform, and when creating content for the platform. (EN), The VR Fast track-project (ESF 2019-21) (EN) | The project aimed to develop a virtual reality-based fast track model for identifying competence together with migrant organizations and entrepreneurs, and thereby open routes to employment, particularly responding to labor shortages caused by positive structural change. The project partners were TUAS and Haaga-Helia UAS.
The experiences gained when developing the VR solutions and the network of organizations will be used in VINCE.
(EN), PedaXR (Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture 2021-23) (EN) | The PedaXR project aims to strengthen the network cooperation of educational institutions and companies related to extended reality technology. XR technology includes both virtual reality and augmented reality solutions. The aim is to study, identify and respond to the needs for change brought about by technology by developing pedagogy, learning materials and teachers' skills. Through the project, companies and educational institutions will work together, utilizing XR technology to meet the changing skills needs of working life. The project partners are TUAS, Haaga-Helia UAS, Metropolia UAS and Kajaani UAS. (EN)

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 2 214 512.47

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 771 609.96

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 80.00%

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 1 771 609.96. Co-financing rate, 80.00%.

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

(bullets are inserted automatically and may be incorrectly placed)

Deliverables:

Requirement acquisition documented
Technical specification and customization needs documented
Virtual platform graphical design
Seminar/workshop results
Seminar/workshop results
AI based language service
Seminar/workshop results
Virtual integration home
Seminar/workshop results
Platform update
Final seminars

Contribution to wider strategies and policies:

EUStrategyBalticSeaRegion The project contributes to Policy Area Education, and more specifically action 4: Recognizing potential – easing the way for migrants. The project will support a more effective integration of migrants by developing services using digital and virtual solutions.
Other Work in Finland – Government Migration Policy Programme to Strengthen Labour Migration
The program supports employment, education and integration of people with a migrant background. It also supports good relations between different social and cultural groups in society through various service packages.
The activities in the project clearly support the goals of the program.
Other United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
The project is well in line with Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Within this goal the aims are for example to focus on families´ health and to promote physical and mental health and well-being.
Other Regionalt Utvecklingsprogram 2030 för Östergötland
In the program, it is stated that internationalization is one of the key success factors of the region, and effective immigration policy is a part of the internationalization policy. The activities of the project support these goals.
Other Regional Strategy for Southwest Finland for 2035
Being a center for Baltic Sea region cooperation is one of the key factors for the regional development in Southwest Finland. Supporting migrants to better education is one of the issues in the responsibility part of the regional strategy. By working for better integration of migrants, the project supports these goals in the regional strategy.

Deliverable (other than infrastructural investment) areas:

Suomi/Finland (FI), Turku, Joukahaisenkatu, 3, 20520

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 116 - Jointly developed solutions, Measurement unit:

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 104 - Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations, Measurement unit:

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSBSR

EUSBSR Priority (Policy) area / Horizontal action:

EUSBSR Degree of compliance:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-A Finland-Estonia-Latvia-Sweden (Central Baltic)

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2025-01-21

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

63 / 63 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

251 / 251 (100%)

Notes on the data

Languages

Contact Form

Virtual integration home - promoting inclusion and empowerment digitally

Description

Thematic information

Partners (5)

Partners map

Summary

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Disclaimer