Adaptation

Migration trends are changing and indicate that people are becoming more and more mobile, and therefore, more people are coming to live in Estonia than are leaving. People usually come to Estonia to work or study, or they arrive in the course of family migration.

Today's Estonia has become a country where people from various ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds live. As a result, the need to develop and empower the field of adaptation at the policymaking level has also increased.

In conclusion, the policies related to the field of adaptation also have broader objectives:

• socio-economic cohesion in the society;
• the prevention of conflicts and other risks between communities comprised of different nationalities;
• development of a comprehensive system of support services that supports adaptation and integration, and involves the state, local governments, NGOs and entrepreneurs.

Direct Links

In order to develop the field of adaptation, the Ministry of Culture is implementing three main activities:

• the adaptation programme "Settle in Estonia";
• the development and implementation of support networks, including the development of adaptation support services;
• the development and implementation of the www.Settleinestonia.ee information platform and its support services.

These activities are designed to achieve a situation whereby the effective adaptation of new immigrants is ensured, followed by the effective integration of the new immigrants, as well as permanent residents of other nationalities, into the Estonian language, cultural and value space. With the cooperation of the partners in the field, it is important to achieve a situation in which adaptation and integration services are people-centred and coordinated, thereby supporting the development of the Estonian economy, the cohesion of society and making a contribution to internal security.

It is important to ensure equal opportunities for independent living and well-being for all the people living in Estonia, regardless of their origins and native languages. Adaptation policies can help make Estonian society cohesive and unified, and enable people with various linguistic and cultural backgrounds to acquire an Estonian identity, actively participate in society, share democratic values and a common cultural space, thereby developing a sense of cohesion.

Concepts

Adaptation – the process by which new (relocated) immigrants adjust to their new environment and host society. The process is characterised by the acquisition of knowledge and skills that help to operate in the everyday life of a new environment (e.g., finding a place to live, a school or kindergarten, learning about taxes, health and social services, language learning opportunities, etc.); about the fields of activity related to the functioning of the state (e.g., how the society is organised, how the state operates, what are the rights and obligations of the people who are citizens of another countries, as well as issues related to residency permits and residency rights, etc.), and the cultural field (e.g., basic understanding of the host society's core values, cultural practices, primary language learning, etc.).

A new immigrant – a person who has legally resided in Estonia for less than five years and has been granted a temporary Estonian residence permit on the basis of the Aliens Act; an alien under the International Protection Act; and a European Union citizen and his or her family member who has acquired, or been granted, the right of temporary residence on the basis of the Citizen of the European Union Act.

Financing

Financing for the field of adaptation breaks down as follows: 85% comes from European Union Structural Funds; and 15% from the national budget.  

With the support of funding from European Union, the project called “Supporting the Adaptation of New Immigrants” is being implemented with the aim of ensuring a smooth adjustment process for the new immigrants settling in Estonia, and making them more competitiveness in Estonian society, including in the labour market, lifelong learning and civil society.

The adaptation programme "Settle in Estonia" is a free study programme provided by the Estonian state, which helps new immigrants who have arrived in Estonia to settle and adjust more easily.

The aim of the adaptation programme is to support the rapid and smooth adaptation to local life by the foreigners settling in Estonia, as well as the acquisition of basic knowledge and skills necessary for coping independently.

It is important that, with the help of the information that supports adaptation, new immigrants can participate in Estonian society, including by working, and participating in lifelong learning and civil society. It is also important to encourage new immigrants to acquire basic Estonian language skills, which will help them to better cope in the local society and information space.

Successful adaptation helps the immigrants who have settled here to feel less isolated from the local cultural space and supports their coping and ability to contribute to the economic and social development of the new host country.

All immigrants under the age of five living in Estonia on the basis of a residence permit or right of residence can participate in the adaptation programme for free.

The Settle in Estonia program, which is comprised of various training programmes, provides an overview of how the Estonian state and society function and how daily life is organised. The programme provides information on topics related to work and entrepreneurship in Estonia, as well as studying, doing research and family life, and also includes the study of basic Estonian (A1 and A2). One can also take part in discussions, share experiences and find answers to the most important questions related to adaptation in Estonia. All the training modules include real life examples that help to better understand what has been learned and how to apply the acquired knowledge in everyday life.

The thematic one-day training modules of the adaptation program are conducted in English and Russian, and mainly in Tallinn, Tartu and Narva. A1 and A2 language training courses also take place in Tallinn, Tartu and Narva, and as of the beginning of 2021, language training have been conducted without an intermediate language.

Participation in the programme is voluntary for new immigrants (except for the beneficiaries of international protection and temporary protection) and free of charge for the participants.

The training programme was started in 2015 and currently more than 11,000 people have participated. The basic, work and business modules, as well as language-learning component, are the most popular.

The adaptation programme, as well as the conditions for participation and the procedure for conducting the programme, are prescribed in the Adaptation Programme established by the Minister of the Interior’s Regulation no. 34 dated 13 August 2014. 

Financing

The 85% of the adaptation programme is financed from the European Union's European Social Fund (ESF) and 15% from the national budget.

The international protection module of the Adaptation Programme is funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Estonia.

Information sources

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/settleinestonia 
• Website: https://www.settleinestonia.ee/ 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJdHesano69gaMPx6edvnjQ 
• Issuu: https://issuu.com/settleinestonia