The Integration Foundation is organising a conference 'Together or Apart: Searching for the Middle Ground' to be held in Tallinn on 10 & 11 November. The event will bring together internationally recognised experts from Finland, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and of course Estonia. Registration is now open online at integrationconference.ee.
The conference programme includes presentations and panel discussions where experts in the field, researchers, policy makers, and representatives of civil society organisations will analyse the processes of segregation, its possible dangers, and consequences.
A total of 16 speakers will be presenting at the conference. They include:
- Ambassador Kairat Abdrakhmanov, High Commissioner for National Minorities of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, will be the main speaker and will deal with the integration of diverse societies;
- Judit Kende, a social psychologist working at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium. Her presentation focuses on preventing xenophobia through inclusive integration policies;
- Hanno Kruse from the University of Bonn, Germany, who is focused on urban sociology and the origins of segregation, deals with ethnic segregation at the secondary school level;
- Venla Bernelius, assistant professor of urban geography at the University of Helsinki, provides an insight into the issues of segregation in schools and cities in Finland.
Laura Kirss, doctoral student of the University of Tartu and research adviser to the Ministry of Education and Research, Natalja Mjalitsina, project manager of Tallinn Lilleküla Gymnasium, and Andrii Rybas, counselling lawyer of the Prevention and Information Department of the Labour Inspectorate, will give presentations on the topical issue of integrating Ukrainian war refugees into the society and thereby avoiding segregation.
The conference will end with a debate between Estonian politicians, focusing on current internal integration issues.
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.
The event is being held on 10 & 11 November in the Creative Hub in Tallinn. 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. The 2022 conference is the ninth in the series. The conference is also supported by the British Council.
