Here is an overview of the support measures offered by Estonian and international organizations, to which you can apply for assistance in organising events dedicated to cultural diversity and implementing your ideas: overview.
We will update this overview by the first day of each month. If you know of a support measure that should be included, please share the details with us by writing to 2024@integratsioon.ee.
Here you will find ideas on how you can highlight Estonia's cultural richness, no matter the day, month or time of year you choose to do so.
> Playlist "Music of different cultures"
Together, make a list of the music that people from different cultures listen to and put together a playlist. Host music days of different nations on local radio. Create playlists for different cultures’ special occasions.
> Cookbook "Our dishes"
Throughout the year, prepare dishes from different cultures (incl. Estonian). Ask members of that national community to prepare and present their dishes. Put together a cookbook from the descriptions/recipes of prepared dishes. In a smaller group, anyone can make a "My Family Cookbook."
> The "Golden Fleece" of cultural diversity
Give short presentations to different cultures, followed by a fun educational guessing game called Golden Fleece (or Kahoot). Invite your guests, let them talk about themselves and come up with tricky questions for the game!
Cooperation and shared hobbies play a crucial role in shaping our future. How often do we think about what kind of a future do we want? What is our end goal? We ask the same question about cultural diversity: what kind of values and results would we like to keep and what will be our future fields of interest?
October is a great month for turning your attention to the cultures of other Finno-Ugric nations, spend the holiday surrounded by culture, and discover the cultural richness of our associations. We would like to share some simple recommendations for doing that.
> Discover new hobbies! Being involved in various hobbies opens doors and windows to other cultures. Be it music, handicrafts, learning a language, or cooking. Shared activities bring different nationalities together; joint community events unite us and allow to spend time with people from different cultural backgrounds. Learn a new type of handicraft and find similarities and differences. On 19 October, visit the Open Handicraft Workshops and find a suitable workshop, lecture, or a hobby. For more information, please visit here. Discover the cuisine of other nations and how your favourite dish is prepared elsewhere in the world. We have compiled a list of trainings, information on workshops, courses, and other learning opportunities. For more information about learning opportunities, please click here. What kind of courses would you recommend to people who want to experience cultural diversity? If you are organising a course or know of one, please email us at 2024@integratsioon.ee.
> Visit cultural associations! Open your mind and heart to new experiences! On 19 October, associations, workshops, and cultural centres open their doors to all who are interested in exploring them and introduce their activities to all potential new members. On 19 October, a cultural fair of the associations takes place in Kammivabrik in Tartu. A seminar on preserving local culture will be held during the fair. How can local culture survive in the era of various budget cuts? It will contain an analysis of cultural management on county level and local governments will share their concerns. The main topic of the seminar is discussion regarding Estonian language: how can we preserve the richness of Estonian language and prevent it from over-simplification? The entire seminar is broadcast online to cultural centres that will join the event all across Estonia, where presentations and performances of the local associations take place simultaneously. Further information is available at:
> Notice cultural diversity! During the school holiday in October or when out and about at other times, pay attention to our cultural diversity. In October, we are able to raise awareness through exhibitions, books, and concerts. For example, exhibition Me, an Estonian! An Exhibition about Bold People is opened in Tammsaare Park in Tallinn; there, you will be able to read the ideas of eight people whose roots are in faraway places, but who have settled down here for various reasons and consider Estonia their home. May these thoughts be an encouragement and an opportunity for discovery and self-reflection for all. A person is still a person. Visit museums, theatres, libraries, etc. during the school holiday. Find a suitable event: https://www.integratsioon.ee/landing-page-events
> Study fellow Finno-Ugric nations! Who are other Finno-Ugric nations, what do their languages sound like, and what kind of a mentality do they have? Become aware of our kindred peoples and the fact that we speak different languages and live in different countries and regions. All nationalities living in Estonia have kindred peoples. Find common ground and discover differences in the cultures, folk costumes, stories, and fairytales of other Finno-Ugric nations. Read the fairytales of kindred peoples, learn about their language and cultural spaces during Finno-Ugrian Days in October. On 18 October, i.e. on the eve of the Finno-Ugrian Days, a conference is going to take place, focusing on Finno-Ugric peoples, languages, and cultural spaces. Further information is available at: https://fennougria.ee/sundmus/konverents-soome-ugri-rahvad-ja-kirde-eesti/. Further details about all of these events are available at: https://bit.ly/kultuurikalender and https://fennougria.ee/.
If you know of an upcoming date that has not yet been marked in our calendar, please share the name of the occasion with us along with the description and your contact details by writing to 2024@integratsioon.ee.
Would you like to know how Estonian culture is preserved by people with Estonian roots living all over the world? Or, if you live abroad yourself, would you like to join the Estonian community? Cultural societies operating in different countries will help you with this.
Most of the contacts can be found at the Global Estonia information portal. In addition, many contacts are available on the website of the Association of Cultural Societies.
If you would like to supplement the published information, please write to us at 2024@integratsioon.ee.
Are you interested in different folk customs and languages, songs and dances, food and activities, and everything that distinguishes and unites people who come to Estonia from other countries? The national minority cultural societies have the answers.
The vast majority of national minority cultural societies are made up of associations that are part of the Cultural Advisory Board of National Minorities established at the Ministry of Culture. The 17 organisations unite more than 300 cultural societies, whose contacts can be found here: national minority cultural associations.
In addition, there are several cultural associations operating in Estonia which bring together representatives of the cultures of the people who have created their homes here in recent decades. Their contacts are available here: all cultural associations.
If you would like to supplement the shared contacts, please send the details to 2024@integratsioon.ee.
Do you want to learn some dialects of Estonian, find out the background of folk customs, or learn the folk dances of your ancestors? Estonian folk cultural societies will support you in this.
More than 1,000 societies, united by the Estonian Folk Culture Centre, help to value and preserve Estonian culture. By agreement with the Centre, we share here the contacts of its member organisations: Estonian cultural societies.
If the contact information needs to be updated, please send the additional information to 2024@integratsioon.ee.
The Cultural Diversity Year is initiated by the Ministry of Culture and is organised by the Integration Foundation. In strategic matters, the running of the theme year is supported by a steering group formed in the ministry, which acts under the leadership of Chancellor Kristiina Alliksaare. Day-to-day issues are within the competence of the Cultural Diversity Year working group:
> Eero Raun – Project Manager
> Alena Stadnik – Commications Manager
> Ave Härsing – Head of Cultural Diversity Activities, Integration Foundation
> Katja Sepp – Head of Communications, Integration Foundation
> Olga Sõtnik – Head of Department of Cultural Diversity, Ministry of Culture
> Oksana Talisainen – Adviser (Common Media Space), Ministry of Culture
> Julia Amor – Adviser of Department of Cultural Diversity, Ministry of Culture
> Krismar Rosin – Adviser of Department of Cultural Diversity, Ministry of Culture
If you would like to join the Cultural Diversity Year team as a volunteer, please contact us by writing about your interests, competencies and skills to 2024@integratsioon.ee.
We can contribute to the Cultural Diversity Year's goal both by acting together and by using a common visual identity. It includes a logo for the theme year and templates to facilitate its use.
The logo of the Cultural Diversity Year is a bird's nest, a metaphor for our common home. Just as the bird's nest is strengthened by the intertwining of the materials used to build it, so too the strength of Estonian society is the connections between its people. The colourfulness of the nest references the cultural diversity that is born out of jointly held values. Estonia is a home for everyone who cherishes and enriches it with their culture.
The visual identity of the theme year can be used by anyone who wishes to highlight, value and preserve Estonia's cultural diversity. The use of the logo and the creation of the designs are explained in the visual identity handbook of the Cultural Diversity Year. The files and templates are available both as files and in an online design environment.
The visual identity for the Cultural Diversity year and the according handbook are created by Estonian design agency Kala Ruudus. The work has been financed by the European Union accordingly to the rules of the public procurement.
The Cultural Diversity Year belongs to all of us, in that each of us contributes to the cultural diversity that surrounds us. Different though we may be, we are all part of one whole – Estonian society, which has been interwoven from different cultures across the ages. At the same time, integration and preserving social coherence is an ongoing process, and the theme year helps to better understand, appreciate and work to preserve the cultural diversity around us.
In the theme year, we will come together to elevate the topic of cultural diversity. In other words, we will recognise the cultural characteristics of our communities and people. We will share them, value and create them, cherish and enrich them through everything that unites us – from experiences and myths to creativity and the future, whether that be in everyday life or on special occasions, in research or through events.
We hope that the legacy of this Cultural Diversity Year will be to help people better understand, appreciate and cherish the different cultures in Estonia. At the same time, we will try to promote mutual communication and cooperation between the different communities and people in Estonia.
It's worth knowing!
> The calendar of the Culture Diversity year will help you to celebrate the diversity of Estonia´s communities and people. You can also publish your own themed events for free.
> There are other possibilities to participate in the theme year. You can find interesting ideas for almost every day at this link.
Back to website of the Culture Diversity Year
Estonia has always been home to different people and the world has always been home to the Estonian people. Today*, there are people of 211 different nationalities living in Estonia. They speak 243 mother tongues, were born in 175 different countries, and hold citizenship of 151 countries. At the same time, 165,000–200,000 people of Estonian origin live around the world. The resulting diversity of communities is further enriched by the quirks that make each one of us unique.
It is the interplay of these distinctive traits at the individual and community level that gives rise to Estonia's cultural diversity. This value, which unites the people of Estonia, will be the focus of the framework for the theme year announced by the Ministry of Culture, the organisation of which has been entrusted to the Integration Foundation. The theme year is called the 'Cultural Diversity year' and its aim is to highlight how much we cherish both the cultural richness arising from the uniqueness of our communities and people, and Estonia as a traditionally culturally diverse society.
It's worth knowing!
> In the rankings of cultural diversity, Estonia is in 83rd position and is in the top ten of European countries. The World Population Review ranks 216 countries in terms of the diversity of the national population’s composition. Of European countries, only Luxembourg, Switzerland, Moldova, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Monaco and Andorra surpass Estonia.
> In this century, the number of native languages spoken in Estonia has more than doubled. According to the 2000 census, residents spoke 109 different mother tongues, whereas the census held 21 years later recorded that 243 native languages were being spoken.
Back to website of the Culture Diversity Year
