Already over 400 Ukrainians have received a new municipality of residence in Turku. The Ryhdy turkulaiseksi project aims to support the integration of Ukrainians who have been granted temporary protection into Turku.
Since March of this year, the Ryhdy turkulaiseksi campaign has actively promoted Ukrainian residentship in Turku. Ukrainian war refugees who have been granted temporary protection and have been in Finlanland for at least a year, have the opportunity to apply for municipal residency rights.
Of the approximately 4500 Ukrainian war refugees who arrived at the Pansio reception center, the majority are eligible to apply for a place in the municipality. Information sessions aimed at Ukrainians, the website ihturku.fi/ukraina, and printed flyers have effectively reached their target audience. International House Turku has organized a total of 9 Ukrainian-language information sessions, which will be complemented by three more sessions at the Integration Competence Center on Linnankatu during this year.
Multilingual Turku as a Driving Force of Growth
Although Ukrainians across Finland have applied for municipal residency less than expected, the situation is favorable in Turku. At the beginning of August, Turku surpassed the mark of 400 new residents, and the goal of reaching a thousand new Turku residents seems achievable in the coming years. The breaking of the 200,000 resident mark in Turku in August is strongly tied to the multilingual population. Currently, about one in seven residents of Turku is of a different language background, and according to the latest statistics, this number is growing significantly.
According to Frans Hartman, the coordinator of the Ryhdy turkulaiseksi project, the desired results would not have been achieved without strong collaboration.
— From the beginning, the project has worked in close collaboration with the experts at International House Turku, other entities within the City of Turku, the Pansio reception center, and the Finnish Ukrainians Association. Once again, we have collectively witnessed Turku’s attractiveness, Hartman rejoices.
