28.02.2023

Community-sponsored integration

Photo: Timo Heikkala / Suomen Punainen Risti

The pilot project on community-sponsored integration promoted the integration of immigrants who had arrived in municipalities as quota refugees, i.e. resettled refugees.

At the start of integration, social relationships and networks are of the utmost importance. As part of the community-sponsored integration pilot, migrants who had arrived in Finland as quota refugees were invited to take part in developing the integration activities.

The pilot project, which ran until the end of 2025, was launched in January 2023. It was co-funded by the European Union. In addition to the Red Cross, the other project parties were Humak University of Applied Sciences and the Church Council. The project ended in December 2025.

Community sponsor groups were established in the roughly 14 municipalities receiving quota refugees that were involved in the pilot project. These sponsor groups offered comprehensive support for refugee integration. The Red Cross and its project partners recruited and trained community sponsors for the role.

Read more about the project’s achievements here.

Focus on the needs of immigrants

The community sponsors and those arriving as quota refugees were coached in finding ways to help the people going through integration find information on life in Finland and build the skills needed for living in a new location. We believe that there is strength in networks and that they offer countless opportunities. People integrating into a new country usually have few initial networks, and it takes time to become part of communities.

Community sponsor groups and instructors organised a variety of customised activities for people moving into the municipality as quota refugees, making it easier for them to become involved in the life in their new home town. We had faith in the abilities of the groups and communities to find their own ways of working. A community supports its members, including the new ones.

The aim was to develop activities that take into account the needs and wishes expressed by immigrants, as well as their situation. In addition to the people integrating in Finland, the participating municipalities, NGOs, parishes and the entire refugee reception system benefitted from the operations.

Activities to continue after the project

The community-sponsored integration project resulted in the development of a wide range of activities, approaches and networks that have become an integral part of the integration support work carried out in the participating municipalities.

Organising the activities will continue while still taking the wishes of the participants into consideration, and several meeting cafés and other meeting places established during the project will continue their operations. The integration platforms for organisations will also be updated regularly.

See the project municipalities on a map.

Find out more about the project municipalities, presented by population.

Tools for smoother integration

Recipes for community-sponsored integration

Recipes for community-sponsored integration offers practical examples of the opportunities provided by community-led activities, as well as tools for getting started. Explore the recipes.

How can integration be supported in a small municipality? Discover Rautjärvi’s recipes for community-sponsored integration.

‘How are you’ discussions

The ‘How are you’ discussion is a low-threshold tool aimed at helping people going through integration feel heard and, as a result, experience a sense of inclusion. These discussions provide information that helps tailor the project’s activities more accurately to the needs of the people going through integration. In the discussions, everyday issues are discussed with the person going through integration according to a predefined framework. The person is free to choose which questions they want to answer. The purpose is to find out how the person feels about everyday life, what works, what does not and what their hopes are. The ‘How are you’ discussion provides valuable information on how local operators could adapt their activities to better serve the needs of people going through integration.

‘How are you’ discussion

Integration platforms for organisations

The work on the integration platform includes analysing and describing the cooperation between authorities and stakeholders in different localities. Working together also makes visible any barriers to participation or inclusion that communities often face. The aim is to tackle them by discussing them together. The integration platform template and instructions can be downloaded free of charge from this page. The integration platforms have been used in integration work since 2016.

Integrarion platforms (in Finnish):

Integration platform Turku
Integration platform Kajaani
Integration platform Äänekoski

Research article: The prerequisites and development of community-sponsored integration in Finland

This research article presents three community support programmes. The research article draws on interviews with staff involved in the pilot project of community-sponsored integration.

You can read the research article here (in Finnish).

Community sponsors

A community sponsor promotes the participation of people going through integration in the activities of different communities and organisations based on the participants’ hopes and wishes. A community sponsor can work alone or as a member of a group. A community sponsor has completed the related training or orientation or has become qualified through practice. A community sponsor is interested in a variety of activities, is familiar with the local activity opportunities and is able to enable the people going through integration to access different communities.

There are currently a little over 100 community sponsors. A specific community sponsor training has been developed for them. At the end of the training, the community sponsors and local people going through integration plan future activities together.

Guiding principles and guidelines

Guiding principles for community support programs

Guidelines for people going through integration

Guidelines for community sponsors

Nordic network for community support programs and similar initiatives

The aim of the Nordic network for community support programs and similar initiatives is to raise awareness and share practical experiences of community-sponsored integration in the Nordic countries.