In Espoo, children and young people can be seen and heard – and they can have their own say on things

During spring 2024, over 200 secondary school pupils from Espoo came together in the joint event Kuulumme yhdessä! of student associations. On the event day, the young people were introduced to the day’s themes and encouraged to explore them by school well-being expert Viivi Pentikäinen. The young people also got to enjoy a performance by Yasmine Yamajako who is an actor-singer who grew up in Espoo and is known for work such as playing Ariel in the Helsinki City Theatre’s production of the musical The Little Mermaid. Yamajako sang and gave the young people an honest and touching motivational speech about her own path. The young people were then allowed to ask her questions, and the queue to get photos with the actor-singer grew quite long.

The event also included functional workshops for pupils led by community instructors. The workshops included grouping of pupils from different schools. Pupils were able to participate in the development of their own residential area and school by using well-being tools. The workshops discussed things such as what the school of pupils’ dreams would be like, and pupils then made dream maps about the school. In addition, young people explored ideas to reduce segregation from their own perspectives. These will be included in the action programme. In addition to work in schools, Espoo also contributes to a national network that works to prevent segregation. 

In Espoo, youth work offers young people a diverse selection of recreational and leisure opportunities. This creates safe spaces where young people from different backgrounds can meet and spend time together. Youth work also provides support and resources to young people at risk of social exclusion in the form of guidance and counselling. The aim is to reduce inequality and promote equal opportunities for all young people.

For example, youth centres often are the first place where immigrant youth go in their new home city. At the youth centre, they meet young people of their own age and find a community. Trained youth instructors support the needs of young people and create a safe environment where everyone can feel like they are part of a group.

Mobile youth work reaches young people where they the spend their time and where services are sparse. Key tools in the work are the Nuori Espoo van Keijo and camper van Kerttu which have been turned into mobile youth centres. Young people can invite mobile youth work to a particular location via Instagram or Snapchat, ensuring easy and fast connection between mobile youth work and young people. 

Mobile youth work promotes a sense of community by providing facilities and activities for young people, ensuring that they can meet each other and create new friendships, even in more remote areas. In addition, mobile youth work provides support and guidance, which can help prevent crime and substance abuse and thus reduce regional segregation. At the request of young people, mobile youth work arrives at the scene, sets up a space and welcomes all young people. The activities are open to all and free of charge, says youth instructor Jukka Kilpelä.

The best thing about mobile youth work is the friendliness of the workers; it is always easy to talk to them about anything. Mobile youth workers can also tell us a lot about the activities of Nuori Espoo, which encourages us to participate in the activities. They also listen to our ideas and thoughts. The workers are also always very supportive, according to the young people Aune and Lotta.

Youth work has tremendous potential in the prevention of segregation, as it provides opportunities for young people to participate in the community, learn from each other and receive support for their growth. Nuori Espoo offers fun activities, events, experiences and everyday support for all young people.

Most families who move to Finland from another country choose to integrate in Finnish because the dominant language is considered the most natural option. However, the Swedish-speaking schools in Espoo have a lot of experience in supporting pupils whose command of the school language is poor, as many pupils have a considerably stronger command of Finnish than Swedish.

Head teacher Ellinor Hellman from the Storängens skola secondary school says that pupils may not be familiar with all the everyday words used in teaching, because Finnish is in many ways their strongest language. Many pupils need support in several subjects due to poor language skills. Poor command of the school language can sometimes lead to conflicts between pupils when they do not fully understand each other. It can be difficult to resolve conflicts when pupils cannot explain in detail what happened.

Even though Swedish-language schools have, compared to Finnish-language schools, relatively few pupils who come from other cultures or whose native language is other than Swedish or Finnish, the number of these pupils in Swedish-language schools has increased in recent years.

“We appreciate all the languages that our pupils know,” Hellman says.

Storängens skola uses many different methods to strengthen its pupils’ command of the school language. Reading fiction both at school and at home is an important part of this effort. In addition, the school actively strives to give pupils the opportunity to participate in Swedish-language culture through activities such as children’s programmes and theatre visits. Lessons emphasise going through texts together and finding explanations for difficult words and concepts.

“Perhaps we also have a certain understanding of minorities, because we know how it feels not to belong to the majority. For example, we know what it is like to be sick and not be able to share how we feel in the language we know best. This is also about identity and culture,” Hellman says.