EURUS students explore the multinational face of Estonia

Multiculturalism and diversity are key characteristics of today’s changing societies. The initiative Multinational Face of Estonia analyses personal stories that are based on people’s experience of living in Estonia, a country with one of the highest percentage of residents of foreign origins in Europe.

The project is aimed at describing the multicultural society within Estonia – identities and integration in the Estonian cultural and political society. The goal is to collect a wide range of stories about non-native residents who call Estonia their home – individuals with diverse backgrounds who live, work or study in the country. The stories focus on three different groups: students and professionals, who have moved to Estonia from other countries, and ethnic Russians who make up around 24% of the population. A selected number of stories will be published by the popular online magazine EstonianWorld.

The project has been developed by Heidi Erbsen, Elisa Ceconi, Ekaterina Tikhonova, Stanislav Yevsafiev, and Andrew Worth – students of the MA programme European Union - Russia Studies (EURUS) – within the framework of the development seminar course. The seminar represents a unique feature of the EURUS programme that enhances students’ personal development through an individual focus on each learner and the realization of collaborative student-led projects.

Dr Stefano Braghiroli, EURUS programme director, is very satisfied with the students' idea developed during the seminar: “during our courses students experience multiculturalism and diversity every day and everyone gets enriched by such melting pot. We are extremely proud of what this project has achieved as it has a clear positive impact on our fluid societies and has given the chance to our students to be protagonist of change and active builders of tomorrow’s world”.

Read also:

• Born in Kohtla-Järve: I do not feel either Russian or Estonian
• A Ukrainian in Estonia: Knowing at least a couple of words in Estonian is respectful

Forwarded by:
Maili Vilson
Research Communication Specialist
Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies
University of Tartu
737 6584
maili.vilson [ät] ut.ee