We are happy to announce that Trust-M will be in charge of organizing the next ETMU conference 13.-14.11.2025 with the title of ”Breaking (digital) barriers: Designing and conceptualizing technologies of inclusive societies”
We are currently inviting session proposals. Here are our tips for the perfect session proposal:
• Describe the topic of your session in approximately 300 words. Remember to mention your language policy!
• Offer examples of the kind of topics you would like to discuss in your session. Where possible, draw connections to the conference theme.
Please see the ETMU conference website for more information. Submit your session proposal here.
Our PhD candidate Frida Alizadeh Westerling gave a statement to the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe’s Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced persons on a sunny day in Paris 11th of March 2025. The topic was artificial intelligence and migration.
Deveped together with Trust-M’s researchers on policy and law, Frida focused her statement on the following pointers:
– migrants’ experiences and perspectives should have a real impact on the development and use of AI systems in the public sector,
– AI systems should be assessed as part of a bigger infrastructure of administration and services – not as isolated single products,
– this assessment should consider the use of AI systems as socio-technical practices, and
– fundamental rights and equality bodies under the AI Act (article 77) need to have resources: a sound knowledge base and capacity to surveil the use of AI systems.
Our researchers Zahra Hosseini, Anne Häkkinen, and Aaro Tupasela gave three talks at the Mobile Futures conference ’Re-imagining integration in a just society’ held in Turku from 16 to 17 of May.
Zahra Hosseini, working at the University of Helsinki gave a talk entitled ’From Cultural Integration to Inclusion With the Catalytic Role of Trust and Belonging’. Anne Häkkinen and Johanna Ylipulli from Aalto University presented their work in a presentation entitled ’Exploring service providers views on building inclusive cities’. Aaro Tupasela from the University of Helsinki gave a talk entitled ’Chatbots as mediators of integration’
We are hiring! Our team is looking for an Arabic or Somali speaking research assistant for qualitative research on migrant integration. Specifically, we are hoping for experience or strong interest in qualitative methods, participatory design, or working with social issues in the Finnish context. Could that be you? Read more about the job opening here and send your application our way. Deadline for applications is the 5th of April 2024.
Migrant Rights X Finnish Immigration Policies
Come and join us to discuss the new government program that threatens to limit migrant rights in Finland. In this event, we bring together the public and experts, to help understand the implications of the programme, raise awareness of concerns, offer an opportunity for public dialogue, hear the opinions of experts and civil society, and develop a collective action plan on how to address the concerns. It will consist of informative talks and a panel discussion among experts, and an open mic and Q&A session, through which the public can ask questions and share their experiences, concerns, and ideas. Read more about it here.
A public forum to discuss the effects of the proposed immigration laws in the government programme on the rights of diverse migrant groups in Finland.
Aalto CS Communications wrote a great introduction piece to Trust M. In the article, we discussed challenges migrants face when they come to Finland and the hybrid human AI-digital services we plan on developing. You can find out more here.