By: Aaro Tupasela
With just about two months until the 2025 ETMU conference in Helsinki the organization and planning is getting ready for its final push. With the working title of “Breaking (digital) barriers: designing and conceptualizing technologies of inclusive societies” we have been thinking about how technologies can create barriers for developing an inclusive society for migrants. The planning and organization of this year’s conference is being led by the members of the Trust-M project that is funded by the Strategic Research Council of Finland.
The conference organization team which is comprised of Zahra Hosseini (University of Helsinki), Rūta Šerpytytė (Tampere University/Aalto University), Viivi Eskelinen (THL) and me are further supported by the hard work of Joel Hakkarainen who works as the conference secretary and Ville Minkkinen who serves as the interaction coordinator of the Trust-M project from September onwards. For almost a year now, our team has been working to develop the theme, invite keynote speakers and put together a program which highlights the role that technology plays in migration and issues of integration.
The collaboration with The Society for the Study of Ethnic Relations and International Migration (ETMU) has been particularly fruitful. Established in 2003, ETMU is a multidisciplinary scientific association that promotes research on migration and ethnic relations in Finland. Combining their perspective with our focus on the role of technology in migration serves as fertile ground for new openings and discussions.
The conference has the pleasure of hosting two keynote speakers: Professor Karolina Follis (Lancaster University) and Associate professor Amanda Paz Alencar (Erasmus University). Professor Follis’s talk will focus on challenges inherent in the aspiration to dismantle barriers to health and realise universal access to healthcare. Associate professor Paz Alencar’s work and talk will focus on how migrants engage with digital technologies as they rebuild their lives in host countries.
The conference has received over fifty abstracts from both Finnish and international researchers, which highlights the interest that the topic has garnered within the research community. With the publication of the conference program this week, the organizing committee is happy to see such a breadth of interesting topics which will be discussed here in Helsinki. Technology is moving at a rapid pace right now with AI and digitalization making it a timely opportunity politically for Finland to make the most of the opportunities that it offers to facilitate migration.
Despite the current government’s attempts to make migration and integration into Finland increasingly difficult, there are important counter forces at many levels. These include municipalities who are since the beginning of 2025 responsible for integration activities in Finland, businesses, which are increasingly reliant on migrants to run their businesses and a plethora of different NGO’s which work diligently to provide support to people in need.
Despite these challenges, we feel invigorated and encouraged by our up-coming conference to provide an important space where different perspectives and approaches can be discussed to help find solutions to the current digital barriers. With this, we look forward to hosting you in Helsinki in November and look forward to fruitful discussions.
You can register for the event on the Etmu Conference 2025 website.
