Vantaa's 1rst Consultation Meeting

The consultation meeting was very much linked to Arrival Cities Project in that the whole idea of improving cooperation and coordination between the City and NGOs and among NGOs was a direct output from the ULG workshop held in November. The November ULG aimed at defining the themes of the LAP. A concrete need that arose was the need to create a network which could support the NGOs in recruiting volunteers, eg. in providing them training and improving communication. A particular challenge is the coordination of volunteer work to support asylum seekers who live in Vantaa. Concrete fields where volunteers are constantly needed is in giving asylum seekers or other migrants with few means the opportunity  to participate in sports and other activities, or teaching the language etc. etc.

Several questions have been analysed and discussed by participants during the meeting. Proposals and feedbacks of the discussion are available in the  Meeting Report.

The meeting had a great success, more than 50 representatives of local associations actively participated and discussed about possible solutions on how to involve volunteers in migrants reception and integration process.