Today, on May 10th, the Ministry of Culture presented the results of “Estonian Integration Monitoring 2020”. The full version of the report and materials related to the monitoring can be found at: www.kul.ee/EIM2020.
“Based on the monitoring carried out during the last 20 years, we can say that the integration of Estonian society has been a consistent and positive process. However, there are still concerns that need to be addressed, such as how to create and support a common space where people of different nationalities could have greater contact with each other, and establish stronger ties with Estonia.” said Anneli Ott, Minister of Culture.
The results of the monitoring show:
- There are many people in Estonia with strong state identities;
- Estonian language proficiency has increased and the Estonian language is seen as being important;
- Returnees and new-immigrants adapt well in Estonia;
- The trust in Estonian Russian-language media has increased;
- Awareness among people living in Estonia about what is happening locally and in Estonia generally has grown steadily over the last 12 years;
- There is a difference between Estonians and people of other nationalities in labour market participation as well as socio-economic status. The aforementioned gaps widen during economic recessions.
The press conference can be viewed in Estonian here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5k9CHBA9E0
Over the past 20 years, eight monitoring studies have been carried out to analyse the field of integration. Independent in-depth studies in the field of integration have been conducted every two or three years, and the results help to comprehend the developments in Estonian society and to plan assimilation, integration and other sectoral policies.
The research assignment was based on the sectoral development plan called “Integrating Estonia 2020”. The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, and it was conducted by Praxis and the Baltic Research Institute, Tallinn University, University of Tartu and Turu-uuringute AS.
