Highlights from the Integration 2024 event in Turku
The Integration 2024 event, held on 14th-15th November, 2024 at Logomo in Turku, Finland, provided valuable insights and interactions for the VINCE project team. The event attracted a wide variety of participants, all keen to learn about innovative approaches to immigrant integration. VINCE’s involvement in this event, through both a public stand, application prototype demos and a joint presentation, sparked interesting discussions, provided useful feedback, and led to exciting future opportunities.
“Potential future collaborators were eager to test the prototype.”
Questions and feedback about the content and technology
One of the most significant takeaways from the event was the positive reception of the VINCE app, currently still in development. Event visitors made many useful questions about both the content and the technology behind the app. The project’s technical team from Turku UAS´s FIT Research Group (Futuristic Interactive Technologies), was keen to discuss and answer the questions as those provide the team with valuable feedback and insight. Questions ranged from technical aspects to the role the app would play in supporting integration services. It was especially encouraging that many visitors, including potential future collaborators, were very eager to test the prototype.
“Feedback from the event showed that we are leaders in this field, and what we are developing is unique and innovative.”
“The night before the event, I started wondering if anyone would be interested in testing our prototype app or whether our large project team would be standing alone behind our table for two days, said Teresia Blomberg, project´s administrative project manager. “Luckily, your doubts were truly unfounded, replied Riina Riihimäki, content project manager, with a wide grin. “I have a strong belief in our project team and the outcomes of the application throughout the project timeline. The feedback we gathered from the Integration 2024 event showed that we are leaders in this field, and what we are developing is unique and innovative.”
Clarifying the role of the VINCE App
Although the app is still in its early stages, it was clear that it will fill an important need. The VINCE team clarified that the app’s purpose is not to replace integration services but to support them. The app is designed to provide relevant, up-to-date and reliable information, and translation services in over 50 languages, allowing human resources to be focused on more complex integration needs. This distinction helped allay concerns and reinforced the app’s potential to complement existing services rather than compete with them.
Insights and invitations for future collaboration
Throughout the event, the VINCE team’s discussions with visitors proved to be immensely valuable. “Our team of developers from FIT (Axel Lindberg, Jaakko Haavisto, and Polina Petrova) received great input just from observing how visitors interacted with the prototype app and from their questions,” said Teresia. “In addition, we received few invitations from Finnish organizations to collaborate on future development projects. From Turku UAS’ perspective, the event turned out to be successful in many ways.”, Riina continued.
VINCE’s participation
The VINCE project was proudly represented at Integration 2024 by all five project partners: Turku UAS, International House Turku, Sateenkaari Koto, Refugee Health Center, and the County Administrative Board of Östergötland. The project was showcased at a stand in the public area of Logomo and through a well-attended presentation in the LOGI auditorium. The joint presentation was delivered by Timo Haavisto (Futuristic Interactive Technologies Research Group, Turku UAS), Tuija Väyrynen (City of Turku), and Riina Riihimäki (Social Inclusion and Active Citizenship Research Group, Turku UAS). VINCE is co-funded by the European Union´s Central Baltic Programme.
About the Integration 2024 event
The Integration 2024 event was organized by the Southwest Finland ELY Centre in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland. It served as a platform for organizations working in immigrant integration and refugee reception to share knowledge, experiences, and best practices. The event offered valuable networking opportunities for participants to explore potential collaborations.
Read more about VINCE application at Ingegration 2024.
