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Home NATIONALMultinational project conceptualises good ethnic relations
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Thu, 04 Sep, 2014 12:06:33 AM
FTimes Report, September 4
 
 
The outcomes of the Good Relations project were presented at an international conference in Helsinki on Wednesday, said a press release of the Ministry of the Interior. 
 
The main aim of the project was to combat racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance by promoting good relations between peoples from diverse backgrounds. The project focused on relations between ethnic and religious groups.
 
The project analysed the concept of good (ethnic) relations in detail, thus lending more substance to the discussion on how to promote ethnic relations at local and regional levels and setting more concrete objectives. The project started in 2012 and will end at the end of October.
 
“The project tested a range of tools, for example to increase positive interaction and cooperation between ethnic minorities and the majority population and to reduce prejudices,” said Project Manager Liisa Männistö.
 
The methods tested in the project and examples of their implementation at local level are presented in a toolkit for promoting good relations, which will also be published in Finnish and Swedish later in autumn.
 
“Promotion of good ethnic relations is included in municipal integration programmes, but it has not been clearly defined before. Therefore, the project created a framework which helps to specify objectives, choose measures to promote good relations and assess their effectiveness,” Männistö added.
 
The Good Relations project was implemented in Finland and Sweden in close cooperation with third-sector actors (particularly ethnic and other minority organisations), public authorities at local and regional levels, various advisory boards and other key stakeholders.
 
Coordinated by the Finnish Ministry of the Interior, the project’s international partners were the Swedish Ministry of Employment and the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM).
 
The national partners include the Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations (ETNO) and the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment for Uusimaa, Pirkanmaa and Southwest Finland. The project is co-financed by the Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Programme of the European Union.
 
 
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