Sofia and Tampere, Finland, exchanged experiences in support for integration of refugees and other migrants in their workforce and beyond. The staff exchange between Sofia Development Association and Tampere Talent Attraction and Migration took place on March 28th, 2022, in the framework of CONNECTION, a project co-financed by the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund. The team of Tampere showed their Bulgarian colleagues how they approach the issue, led by the understanding that the successful integration of third-country nationals in the EU labour market represents an opportunity for our societies. Among the initiatives that provoked greatest interest were the International House Tampere, dealing with the integration of third country national employees and their families, the multilingual info Mainio, offering free advice in 14 languages, the community social center Kototori – where all services are “one door, 5 steps away”.

The staff exchange between the two cities was followed by a workshop of the Community of Practice “Access to the labour market”, with the participation of cities from France, Spain and Belgium, and with the facilitation of EUROCITIES and MigrationWork.

The project CONNECTION helped Sofia establish its Bureau for Information and Services for third country nationals on 111 Hr. Botev street. All ideas learned and skills acquired will be used to effectively address the Ukrainian refugee crisis.

CONNECTION project: CONNECTING Cities Towards Integration action, is co-funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.