Danish nuclear physicist and Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr said, “How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.”
Ongoing trends in society have highlighted a certain paradox. One of the most important goals in the field of integration is to enhance understanding between communities of different nationalities, including increasing contacts and establishing a sense of “us”. In doing so, we create a common cultural space while preserving and supporting everyone’s source culture and first language. As a result of successful interethnic integration where contacts between nationalities increase and minorities become part of the majority, it may happen that the focus of the conflict shifts from nationality based issues to the topic of how open/closed the society is. We are seeing these manifestations today. Minorities move into society as a whole, whereas nonconformists within the minority move out of the inner majority group. In hopes of understanding the nature of the foregoing, we may prevent mistakes in the future that could lead us to infinitely more difficult challenges.
I believe that as a society we have the opportunity to march forward on a path where movement towards cohesiveness takes place on many fronts. Where, in addition to someone’s integration, we also enhance our general readiness to cope with and understand global trends. And that requires understanding everyone, not just raising “their” awareness.
As a result of the previous paradox or by having a sense of it, the field of integration has in fact moved to a new stage of development. The Monitoring Report on Integration 2020 that assesses the effectiveness of integration in Estonia describes different phases of integration. There was a patriotic phase in the 1990s where integration was not pursued as it is today and nationalism was central. Thereafter, more and more attention was paid to the Estonian language – if you speak it, you can stay, if not, go away. Estonian, actually but a tool, became a symbol of integration for Estonians and a symbol of assimilation for people of other nationalities. Integration of non-Estonians and of those speaking another language was discussed. Now, take a moment to really think about these words – NON-Estonian, those speaking anOTHER language. In the 2000s, the field moved into a phase where there was increasingly more talk of integration as a two-way process where both Estonians and people of other nationalities play an important role.
However, we are now moving to a stage where integration is not a separate activity but part of social policy, education policy, security policy, and cultural events. Ever more so. The task of the integration field is to raise awareness and provide a nudge at all levels as regarding issues related to the integration, including adaptation, of people of other nationalities that have been here for a while, new immigrants, and returning Estonian expats, yet not to do so in a separated manner. No more integration projects, figuratively speaking; rather, we should figure out how all projects and activities altogether could make sure that people of other nationalities are involved. In other words, in my opinion, we have reached a new phase where integration has become a policy in a cohesive society.
That is why our development plan is also significant in terms of both its name and its content. For the first time in Estonian history, a single development plan is managed by three ministries, jointly setting cross-sectoral ten-year goals. Integration, including adaptation, is no longer a separate entity. The development plan focuses on the topics of integration and adaptation, civil society, compatriots, and the census. The most important focal point in the field of integration, including adaptation, is reaching all those that need or could provide assistance in both adaptation and integration. Service development must proceed from individual interests and needs. The quality and accessibility to people of such services are also important.
In the next ten years, we will focus on cooperation with local governments precisely because they are closest to the individual. A large part of new immigrants are scattered across Estonia. This challenge is not specific only to Tartu and Tallinn and, rather, stands before all regions today. But these are new topics and regions need better knowledge and practical tools in this respect.
A common information space is essential here. We acknowledge that today we do not perceive strong interethnic conflicts in society, and people of other nationalities are demonstrating growing trust in Estonian media channels. Be that as it may, there is certainly room for improvement. Young people, for example, no longer follow today’s popular channels that much and we have to keep up with trends and opportunities that appeal to the target group. Today, the English-speaking population as well needs the opportunity to take part in the same information space that is available in Estonian. This in a language they understand so that they could be involved in the happenings of Estonian society.
However, the most important cornerstone for cohesion is understanding which, in its turn, requires communication. There are contacts between Estonians and people of other nationalities, yet, regrettably, such contacts are weak and take place at school and at work rather than during leisure time. We endeavor to support those bridges and intersections where relevant interpersonal relationships can take root. The issue is not always that no one wants to, but, rather, how to find a person of another nationality in Hiiumaa or an Estonian in Narva, for instance. We need to make significantly more use of online opportunities and be creative.
The socio-economic situation as well has an effect on how people adapt to a particular country. If you don’t have a job or your salary is meager and career opportunities limited, you will not feel like being a better citizen. So it is, that we are trying to support initiatives that increase the opportunities for people of other nationalities to establish and develop themselves in the labor market, starting with job exchange and internship programs.
A connection with the Estonian language and culture is also at the heart of our development plan. By maintaining and supporting each individual’s own cultural background, we seek to enhance everyone’s connection with and relation to the Estonian cultural space. Active Estonian language learning continues. Regrettably, we keep seeing examples of a situation where a language course has been completed many times over, yet the courage to speak remains lacking. Over the course of the next ten years, we will try to build a stronger foundation for Estonian language schools in different regions, at the same time offering different learning opportunities where studies are not only classroom based and language proficiency is acquired also by actual real life practice.
However, plans, as meaningful as they may be, will not implement themselves. In addition to local governments, we are increasingly reaching out to civil society, the grassroot level, the employers. Attitudes and communication start with state agencies, the local culture center, the library, the health care worker – in fact, each and every one of us. The goal of our development plan is to weave a network and to foster inclusion, as worn out as that may sound.
It is crystal clear that our challenges in the field of integration, including adaptation, are augmenting because of both our social well-being and our economic growth, but also because of a general population movement that is currently ongoing across the world as a result of military conflicts and climate change. On the one hand, we need new solutions to challenges that have persisted for decades, yet, on the other hand, we must cope with new and emerging issues. Coherent Estonia 2030 gives us our heading.