Support for integration through improved digital services
About 25 per cent of Espoo residents speak a language other than Finnish or Swedish as their mother tongue. In total, more than 150 different mother tongues are spoken in Espoo. Each individual’s personal and cultural background has a major impact on how they look for information and what kind of services they are used to. The City of Espoo engages in extensive cooperation with researchers and residents to find new solutions that make residents’ daily lives smoother, improve access to information and facilitate the use of services. This work is coordinated through the Trust-M project.
There is a great deal of variation in new residents’ digital, reading and language skills and media literacy. However, irrespective of their background, people moving here from another country feel that taking care of matters is stressful. In the first few years, everything is new, from the service system and language to the way things are done. Learning new things takes time and effort.
The City of Espoo, supported by the Trust-M project, is aiming to increase the accessibility of digital services in terms of both language and usability.
“New digital services can, for example, provide information on services in Espoo in people’s own language or make interaction easier in other ways. The most concrete example so far is the use of AI-generated translations on the HelloEspoo.fi website. The content can be read and listened to in several languages. Technology can also help a client during an appointment by making notes or interpreting complex forms. The only limit is our imagination!” Project Manager Irena Bakic says.
Resident participation at the heart of insights
We have developed new service concepts together with residents in many ways. In spring 2025, we organised a visual design course together with Nicehearts ry’s Neighbourhood Mothers activities, allowing immigrant women to design a postcard that the City of Espoo would send to new residents. During the course, the participants had a chance to share their views on how city communications can make a new resident feel welcome. They also learned about service design, visual design and the use of digital tools.
We have also brainstormed ideas for new digital services with people participating in Espoon monikulttuuriset lapset ja nuoret ry’s activities. In the coming years, we may develop support for filling in forms and a digital assistant into new kinds of services. Hello Espoo Info, the low-threshold advisory service for immigrants, is also involved in the work.
“The best part is that user-friendly and accessible digital services benefit everyone in Espoo. Finnish- and Swedish-speaking residents also get to enjoy the fruits of our development work,” Bakic says.
What is Trust-M?
The Trust-M project supports immigrant integration by developing the city’s digital services together with residents, researchers and city employees. The project is being carried out through research cooperation with Aalto University and the universities of Helsinki, Tampere and Vaasa. The aim is to increase our understanding of how trust and equality are seen and how human rights are ensured in the current digital services. Research data will be used to develop existing services to better meet immigrants’ needs as well as to create new digital solutions that streamline our services. The project will continue until 2028.
Enquiries
Irena Bakic, Project Manager, Trust-M project