Contents

This publication is also available online in a web-accessible version at https://pub.norden.org/US2022-423

Introduction

The Nordic Migrant Expert Forum consist of 16 experts on integration, who have knowledge of one or more of the following areas: the labour market; education,social and health care, gender equality, democracy and citizenship, segregation.
represent an organisation that works with integration, or participate as an individual expert in an area relevant to integration of refugees and immigrants are born outside the Nordic Region and have migrated to a Nordic country

The experts have been selected by the ministries responsible for integration in the Nordic countries to secure a well-founded and diverse knowledge base for Nordic co-operation on integration.

Nordic Migrant Expert Forum
Expert Profile

Select profile and click on photo.

Asim Latif, Denmark

Maria Marti Castaner, Denmark

Nilay Kılınç, Finland

Takura Matswetu, Finland

Fiffi N. Mukwege Namugunga, Norway

Justyna Bell, Norway

Ahmed Abdirahman, Sweden

Sakıp Murat Yalçın, Sweden

Hoda Thabet, Island

Fayrouz Nouh, Iceland

Fernando Ugarte, Greenland

Ruth Montgomery-Andersen, Greenland

David Im, Faroe Islands

Kalpana Vijayavarathan, Faroe Islands

Jonas Sommarhed, Åland

Viktoria Olsson, Åland

Through my practical experience with the field of integration, it is evident for me that integration in its practical implementation is a one-way concept. Its implication is that the ethnic minorities are stuck as being different and hence need to change. Therefore, as long as we speak integration, we will not achieve equality, recognition and find common grounds. My best advice when working in the field is to drop the term integration.

Asim Latif

Head of Development, The Foundation for Social Responsibility

Expertise areas

• Bridge building between the ethnic minority groups and the public, private and voluntary sector
• Identity development of ethnic minority individuals, families, and groups
• Development of initiatives for organisational and social change

How I work with integration

We in the Foundation for Social Responsibility have a resource-based approach when working with ethnic minorities. Our focus is on utilizing individuals’ own resources to both define and strengthen their own role in their life, family, local community. We also support the public, private and voluntary sector in their work with ethnic minorities.  

What makes good integration

In my perspective good integration equals active citizenship. Its prerequisite is obviously that one has a strong sense of belonging as well as having equal opportunities in all aspects of life. 

I have high expectations from Nordic cooperation on this matter. The members of the forum are very motivated to share their knowledge and experiences within the forum and with the respective Nordic Ministries for the betterment of issues related to the ethnic minorities in Scandinavia.

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I hope my work can help us understand how services related to maternal healthcare and early childhood can become key points of psychosocial support for immigrant families and can provide them with opportunities to integrate into a new society.

Maria Marti Castaner

Assistant Professor at the Danish Center for Migration, Ethnicity, and Health at the Department of Public Health, Copenhagen University

Expertise areas

• Mental health Mental health prevention and promotion
• Maternal health Health inequalities
• Early childhood Access to healthcare

How I work with integration

One of the goals of my research is to understand how public health interventions that focus on integration, such as Sundhedsplejersker styrker integration in Denmark, can strengthen the mental well-being and mental health of refugee and immigrant mothers and fathers. 

What makes good integration

Integration initiatives should be based on a two-way process between immigrant communities and the receiving society, fostering social cohesion and a sense of belonging and building bridges between cultures. I hope that the Nordic cooperation on integration will think of integration as such, fostering a dynamic dialogue and encouraging Nordic societies to be open to refugees and immigrants.

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My research projects on second-generation migrants and highly-skilled migrants address to the fact that, migrants’ normative integration does not lead to a full acceptance from their host societies. Therefore, integration debates need to include the discriminatory structures of power and various inequalities in societies. Furthermore, integration needs to be understood as a reciprocal process wherein host populations as well are engaged in creating solidarities with the newcomers. 

Nilay Kılınç

Postdoctoral Researcher, Helsinki Institute of Urban and Regional Studies

Expertise areas

• Highly skilled migration Second generation
• Labour market integration Turkey-EU relations
• Nordic cities Identity and belonging

How I work with integration

My academic research focuses on highly-skilled migrants' social and economic integration in Helsinki, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. The project is in cooperation with the City of Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa; hence I have the opportunity to inform the local authorities about my research findings on migrants' various integration processes and challenges. 

What makes good integration

A good practice for integration needs to build policies and politics which support the newcomers in creating their social and economic networks and accumulating skills that will help them in becoming more involved as members of the society. Integration programmes need to acknowledge the intersectionality dimension - that is, next to nationality, there are other determinants such as gender, ethnicity, (dis-)ability, religion, sexual orientation, class, and social status which interplay and create different needs and challenges for different individuals. Hence, local, national, and regional authorities should focus on creating social policies which aim at emancipating creative human potential, so that immigrants and refugees can realise their goals and aspirations. 

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The goal of my work is to inform the processes, and to help decision makers in making customer centric, operational and strategic decisions for the development of services built to facilitate good integration.

Takura Matswetu

IT Project Manager

Expertise areas

• International Migration
• Integration
• Data Analysis
• Knowledge Management

How I work with integration

I work with IT solutions and data to advance knowledge based integration management, talent attraction and retention. We are working towards creating knowledge management ecosystems that support data driven integration, as well as inform decision making at different levels.

What makes good integration

For me good integration cultivates a holistic understanding and acceptance of diversity, which facilitates hybrid practices, thoughts and cultures, that drive innovation, growth and harmony in society, academia and in industry. Towards this end, I believe that the success of integration relies on clear and efficient integration processes, and that the constant development of these processes require that we use data to understand the needs of newcomers as well as the impact of the services being provided for their integration.  The Nordic cooperation is something that I expect will facilitate a sharing of ideas and create a platform for shared knowledge and experiences towards common goals.

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My background within governance combined with my expertise working with inte-gration field for the last 18 years, I consider my experience as an important asset in the group.

Fiffi N. Mukwege Namugunga

Senior Advisor, Trøndelag County Council

Expertise areas

• Employment
• Negative social control
• Volunteering
• Leading projects within the field of integration

How I work with integration

Through the regional framework and, we anchor integration theme plan and work with counselling about integration in all its aspects at all levels from the municipalities to other sector authorities.

What makes good integration

We achieve good integration when at the system level we are able to implement laws and integration measures to promote the well-being of immigrants in general based on their needs. I expect from the Nordic cooperation that we will be able to propose integration measures that when implemented locally will promote good neighborhoods allowing immigrants to actively participate in the development of their local communities.

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In my work, I emphasise the importance of lifting the focus from integration seen as synonymous with labour market integration, towards a broader consideration including dimensions such as language abilities, sense of belonging and political participation. As a researcher, I disseminate the results of my studies to fellow academics, the general public as well as to the policy makers and relevant stakeholders providing recommendations to changes in policies and regulations.

Justyna Bell

Senior Researcher, NOVA - Norwegian Social Research

Expertise areas

• Intra-EU migration
• Discrimination
• Mental health
• Leading projects within the field of integration

How I work with integration

As a sociologist and a migration researcher, I critically engage with the concept of integration. In my work with integration I prefer to concentrate on the local initiatives, which grow as a response to particular necessities and which are usually developed from the bottom up. Outside of academia, I work as a volunteer in a number of organisations supporting migrants in Norway.

What makes good integration

Good integration is a process engaging multiple actors- both on the side of the migrants and non-migrants- that is context-specific and designed according to the needs of those involved. It entails everyday encounters and local adaptations, focusing on the kind of informal adjustments that make us all able to live with change. I hope that through the Nordic cooperation on integration of refugees and immigrants, we will be able to use our joint expertise to have a genuine impact on the debates around integration and how it should be organised. 

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You cannot learn integration in a book, integration must be created between people. The more we can meet in everyday life, the greater belonging and fellowship we feel.

Ahmed Abdirahman

CEO and Founder, the Global Village Foundation

How I work with integration

The Global Village Foundation works to enable and work for all people to be included in the social, economic and political life. The foundation's activities include seminars, network meetings, job opportunity events, Business Community forum for small business owner, Town Hall Meetings, Järva Film Festival and a national politician week - Järvaveckan. In addition, we conduct major surveys and reports annually to contribute to better knowledge about integration, inclusion and social sustainability.

What makes good integration

Integration is about creating and enabling meetings between people from different backgrounds. Integration goes both ways – both the majority and new citizens have to be engaged, willing to learn and change. It is about tracking differences in outcome such as education, labor market inclusion, housing and democratic participation and representation at all levels in society. It is measurable and requires statistic but it is also about a sense of belonging and very humane. My expectation is that we work with both parts, statistics and data so we can track differences between ethnic groups and the majority as well as creating trust and human interactions between communities, people and sectors.

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The strength of my expertise is working with different aspects of interculturality, and focusing on a variety of practical measures close to target groups. This variety helps me and my organisation be more aware of the new needs and solutions. 

Sakıp Murat Yalçın 

Expertise areas

• Intercultural adult education
• Intercultural events
• Social development for integration

How I work with integration

Digitalisation of new citizens: Currently assigned a project to create a volunteer network in adult education for facilitating digital knowledge in benefit of migrants.  

What makes good integration

Mutuality is the golden rule. First, when all sides open their minds to learn from each other with respect, can we be one world society. I'm hoping to contribute so that Nordic countries create better platforms to put light on inspiring examples where this has become reality.

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Knowledge is praiseworthy when it is coupled with ethical conduct and virtuous character. It is as the seed: the tree exists within it but is hidden and concealed; when the seed grows and develops, the tree appears in its fullness. In like manner, the growth and development of every individual in the family unit, proceeds by gradual degrees. Offering sustainable programs of growth, is the key-solution to capacity building for the entire family-units of refugees: individuals, children and their parents.

Hoda Thabet

Consultant at the Department of Welfare in Reykjavik municipality. Founder & Chairperson of O.M.A.H.A.I NGO in Iceland

Expertise areas

• Research
• Education and Consultancy
• Translation, Education, E-learning, and Coaching
• Academic training

How I work with integration

It is not merely material well-being that refugees need. What they desperately need is to know how to live their lives – they need to know who they are, to what purpose they exist, and how they should act towards one another; and, once they know the answers to these questions they need to be helped to gradually apply these answers to everyday behaviour. It is to the solution of this basic problem of (refugees) that the greater part of all our energy and resources should be directed.

What makes good integration

“Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit there from”. Refugee Education, is not simply seen as the acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills, but also in terms of the development of vast and powerful potentialities inherent in the very nature of every human being. The development of these potentialities and talents, attains fruition when it is pursued in the spirit of service to humanity. Without a vision of shared identity and common purpose, refugees fall into competing ideologies and power struggles. Seemingly countless permutations of “us” and “them” define group identities ever more narrowly and in contrast to one another. Over time, this splintering into divergent interest groups has weakened the cohesion of society itself.

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The focus on Muslim immigrant women and other minority groups would help develop effective integration programs suited to increase their participation and access to the labour market in host societies. It is also beneficial to the authorities at the national and European level who could work to reduce the social and cultural challenges and empower Muslim immigrant women and other women belonging to minority groups socially and economically. 

Fayrouz Nouh

PhD student at the University of Iceland, Global Studies. 

Faculty of Sociology, Anthropology and Folkloristics

Expertise areas

• Immigrants
• Muslim women
• Employment
• Integration

How I work with integration

I work as an interpreter since 2017. The experiences obtained from working as an interpreter for government and health sectors for Muslim and speaking Arabic clients, especially Muslim women, made me think more profoundly about Muslim immigrant women’s lives in the Icelandic society. In Master, I focused on the main social and cultural challenges faced by Arab Muslim immigrant women in Icelandic society and their effect on their adaptation. In addition, I explored how these women identified themselves and how the new environment and the social and cultural values contributed to their integration process in Iceland outside the capital area. In my PhD, the focus is on Muslim immigrant women’s experiences in participating and integrating into the Icelandic labour market. Besides, the study aims to discover and compare the strategies that municipalities use to help Muslim immigrant women participate and integrate into the Icelandic labour market.

What makes good integration

I consider our humanity as a core of society, and I believe that good integration should start by understanding humans’ differences, leading to a stable society, and encouraging diversity. This would help rebuild the relationships between individuals from different backgrounds and community groups and governments by increasing the awareness of different cultures, religions, norms and traditions and their effect on immigrants’ integration and participation in the Nordic countries.

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I would like to help all people to see the benefits of cultural and ethnic diversity, as well as the need of solidarity towards those who are forced out of their home countries due to circumstances completely out of their control.

Fernando Ugarte

Head of Department, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources

Expertise areas

• Because I have lived in several countries, including Norway, Denmark, Iceland and, since 2005 in Greenland, I know what it is to be a foreigner trying to integrate into different societies. 
• As head of department in a governmental research institute, I work with formulating scientific advice to management authorities.
• I am also involved in divulgating complex research results to the public.
• I have firsthand experience dealing with the social and health systems in Greenland and in Denmark. 

How I work with integration

I have a leading position in a research institute that depends on highly skilled workers, so we regularly recruit foreigners to come and live in Greenland. 

What makes good integration

Good integration occurs when immigrants have the same or similar opportunities than locals and enjoy social and cultural participation in the society around them.

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As a researcher I have a holistic approach to culture and cultural awareness, health and eth-ics. The majority of the non- Nor-dic immigrants in Greenland are women; and as a midwife, cultur-al activist and researcher,  I have had the possibility to speaking with, support and advocate for these women. It is an honor and priviledge to share in ways that are culturally relevant. 

Ruth Montgomery-Andersen

CLM, MPH, DrPH Associate Researcher Greenland University

Expertise areas

• Health disparities among Indigenous Greenlandic and Non-nordic women and children in Greenland 
• Health Promotion & Capacity building within non -nordic groups in Green-land 
• Children’s Rights to cultural expression

How I work with integration

I am originally from the United States, from a multi – cultural background, and I live and work in Greenland, as a midwife, researcher, teacher and mentor. Migration  and immigration in Greenland has two levels. The Nordic, western immigrants who’s migration often gives them a strengthened place in society and migration from countries such as Thailand, Philippines and China. Over the past 5 years I have worked with inclusivity within the Greenlandic society, with a special focus on cultural humility and the rights of the individual. I have also been a catalyst for projects that are inclusive for non- nationals living in Green-land.

What makes good integration

A society where responsibility, human rights and tolerance go hand in hand. The responsibility to be an active part of society and the right to preserve one’s individuality, and a society that embraces you as a human being

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My position plays a key role in bringing key stakeholders together to find common solutions and practices that address integration-related issues

David Im

National Integration Coordinator at the Faroese Immigration Office

Expertise areas

• Labour Market
• Democracy and Rights
• Policy

How I work with integration

I advise and partner with public authorities and municipalities on the matters of integration and collaborate with stakeholders on relevant integration projects. 

What makes good integration

Good integration doesn’t stem only from policies or programs but also from relationships formed between locals and migrants through shared experiences and values. We must also think outside of the box how both public and online spaces play a critical role in fostering inclusive engagement for all individuals. My expectation for being part of the migrant forum is to remind all that integration deals with people’s lives and the impact the Nordic cooperation can bring for the better.

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As a teacher educator, I am able to present meaningful perspectives on diversity, inclusion and integration to future teachers and thereby create a positive foundation for social justice and equity in education through gate-keepers, who have a defin-ing role in inculcating posi-tive and inclusive values in children.

Kalpana Vijayavarathan

Asst. Professor, Faculty of Education, The University of The Faroe Islands

Expertise areas

• English as a foreign language teaching
• Culturally responsive pedagogy
• Leadership and change management
• Language and identity

How I work with integration

What makes good integration

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My experience in the labour market is very useful for integration. People often became integrated in a society throug their job and relations with coworkers. Work is very important in order to feel as a part of the society.

Jonas Sommarhed

Employment Advisor, Åland Authority on Labour Market and Student Services

Expertise areas

• Employment
• Integration

How I work with integration

I work at the employment office in Åland, Finland and many of my clients are immigrants. I help them to find job or studies. I am also the founder and chairman of the association of Romanians on Åland. Romanians are the biggest group of immigrants on the Åland islands and we work with integrating them in the local society.

What makes good integration

The key to a good integration is establishing contacts with the local community and learning the local language. I expect to share ideas and practises that facilitates integration through Nordic cooperation.

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My experience in the field of education and career counselling give me a good insight into challenges and possibilities to help with the process of integration and finding a meaningful career path and active so-cial life in a new environment.

Viktoria Olsson

ICT Educator at Åland University of Applied Sciences

Expertise areas

• Education
• Employment

How I work with integration

Helping people to enter the job market, to transfer existing professional skills to a local context as well as learn new skills through a right education

What makes good integration

Good integration works with shrinking gaps of cultural, social, linguistical differences without eliminating or diminishing person's background. Encouragement of becoming an active citizen of a new home-country and being treated with respect. Integration is a two-way street: accept and be accepted, respect and be respected, include and be inclusive.

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Nordic Migrant Expert Forum

Expert profiles

US2022:423
Published 14/3/2022
http://dx.doi.org/10.6027/US2022-423

This publication is also available online in a web-accessible version at https://pub.norden.org/us2022-423/

© Nordic Council of Ministers  

Layout: Louise Jeppesen
Photo: Norden.org

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