Nordic-Baltic Migration Conference 17.09.2026
The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Estonia is organising an international conference “Temporary Protection as New Normal” on 17 September 2026 at the Estonian National Library in Tallinn. The conference focuses on the long-term implications of temporariness and housing-related challenges. The event is part of the Nordic and Baltic Migration and Integration Project FOR-IN 2.0.
Recent years have demonstrated that temporary protection is no longer a short‑term or exceptional response to displacement, but an increasingly central element of migration governance in Europe. As the number of people living in prolonged situations of temporariness grows, Nordic and Baltic countries face shared challenges related to legal certainty, access to housing and services, and long‑term societal inclusion.
This Nordic-Baltic conference provides a platform to reflect on the developments, to exchange experiences, and to discuss the effects of temporary protection as an emerging new normal. The conference is organised within the framework of FOR-IN 2.0 and will bring together policymakers, researchers and practitioners from across the Nordic and Baltic region.
The conference is arranged by Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Estonia, the Ministry of Culture of Estonia, the Nordic Welfare Centre, the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities, the University of Tartu, Tartu Welcome Centre and several other partners.
The conference will be held in English, with translation to Estonian.
FOR-IN & FOR-IN 2.0
Integration of refugees is a priority topic in the Nordic and Baltic countries for many years. The experiences of all of the Nordic and Baltic countries are of high value for all stakeholders in our region. During 2022–2024, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Offices in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia in collaboration with the UNHCR Representation for the Nordic and Baltic countries, and several national and regional stakeholders, successfully implemented the project Fostering Refugee and Immigrant Integration (FOR-IN). Building on this success, the initiative continues under the framework of FOR-IN 2.0 during 2025–2026, with a renewed focus on aligning activities with the strategic priorities of national and local integration stakeholders across the Nordic-Baltic region.
This project will give a possibility to learn from each other, share the experiences of the researchers and practitioners of integration, and to build a stronger Nordic-Baltic network of local and regional governments as well as the NGOs and civic society organisations actively working in the field of integration. Due to the Russian aggression war in Ukraine, the number of refugees has been rising in European countries and other parts of the world, this makes the aims of the project even more important than ever before.
Cooperation partners
The project has been prepared in cooperation with the Nordic Council of Ministers, the UNHCR, the University of Tartu, The Ministry of Culture of Estonia, the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities, Tartu Welcome Centre, Estonian Refugee Council and several other partners.
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