As the challenges of integration are often connected to problems in the social sphere, it is important to provide immigrants with comprehensive information on, for example, employment, education, social services, etc. The main goal of the project was therefore to provide integration-related information to third-country nationals, persons with undefined citizenship and newly arrived immigrants.

The secondary goal was to develop a structure for information provision that would meet the needs of the target group as much as possible, be sustainable and have an effective service and financial model.

Photo by The Integration Foundation

The counselling centres gathered information relevant to the target groups, organised the information and made it accessible from a single location. The centres also offered information on integration-related services, and if necessary, referred clients to the specific authority or institution that provided the needed service.

To launch and manage the centres, the project took the following actions:

• Developed a model for the counselling service through an inclusionary service design process.
• Launched and maintained information and counselling centres in Tallinn and Narva, which is the third largest city with a Russian-speaking majority and a relatively higher population of immigrants and people with undefined citizenship.
• Carried out promotional activities, distributed promotional materials, built and maintained project website.
• Monitored and analysed the service provision model during the test period.

Besides opening and launching the centres, the project also provided relevant information to the Estonian public sector, at both national and local levels, on how to ensure provision of the best information and counselling services with respect to migrant integration.

The project compiled information on subjects relevant to integration, such as employment, education, social services, legal assistance, social care, healthcare, state subsidies, language learning, adaptation courses, applying and acquiring citizenship, etc. To gather information, the project cooperated with different state institutions, who in turn contributed to raising awareness of the project and the further development of its services.

Additionally, the project carried out an analysis to determine whether there is a need among the clients for a permanent service.

The need for a physical integration counselling centre became apparent during the project, and the Integration Foundation and the Estonian Ministry of Culture continued to maintain the centres after the pilot period.

The project organised focus group discussions to map the needs of third-country nationals and collect suggestions to develop the service model. People participating in the focus groups were from national ethnic associations, international student services of universities, organisations who work in a multicultural environment and foreigners living in Estonia.

The main conclusions of the discussion:

• The centres and accompanying website were very useful tools and were used by members of the target communities.
• The centres help to increase social cohesion and foster integration.
• The project and its outputs helped to support the goals of the national integration plan.
• The project provided a sufficiently broad spectrum of information to cover the different situations that its target groups might face.

The direct target group for the project were adults from outside the EU, European Economic Area and Switzerland, as well as people with undefined citizenship who regularly reside in Estonia.

Indirectly, the project benefited people and institutions that provide services to foreigners (schools, employers, counsellors, teachers, etc.) and people in regular contact with the target group.

The project was funded by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals (2007-2013). The total budget for the pilot phase was €139,050. The project employed five staff members. Experts, advisers and lecturers also contributed.