What does it mean to feel at home in a new country?
Learning the language, finding work and understanding how society works are important parts of integration, but integration also happens in everyday moments – discovering a new place, meeting people, finding something you enjoy, and beginning to feel that the city around you belongs to you too.
Culture can play an important role in this process.
There was a study in August 2026 by E2 Research, Kotouttaako kulttuuri? (“Does Culture Integrate?”), exploring the role of cultural services in the integration of people who have moved to Finland. The findings highlight something we see in our own work at Luckan Integration, that cultural experiences can be much more than leisure. They can create opportunities to learn, connect and build a sense of belonging.
Culture can open doors
According to the E2 Research study, 72% of respondents said they had learned about Finnish culture and society through cultural events and services. More than half, 57%, said that participating in cultural activities had also supported their learning of Finnish or Swedish.
Culture can offer a different kind of learning. You might learn about Finland through a painting, a theatre performance, a concert or a conversation after visiting an exhibition. You can discover how people spend their free time, what stories are important, how a city is shaped and where people gather.
And sometimes, you can learn without needing many words at all.
The study also highlights the social side of culture. Many respondents saw opportunities to meet people and build networks as an important reason to participate. Around 70% said that attending cultural events had strengthened their sense of belonging with other people living in their area.
For someone who is new to Finland, this can be significant. Finding a place where you feel welcome, and having someone to share that experience with, can be a first step towards feeling more connected to your new home.
But opening the doors is not always enough
The E2 Research study also points to an important challenge – cultural services do not automatically reach everyone. Museums and theaters in particular seem to struggle the most with this.
Information can be difficult to find, events may be advertised only in Finnish or Swedish, ticket prices can be a barrier and, for someone who is still learning how things work in Finland, simply knowing where to look can be difficult.
The research highlights the importance of making cultural services more accessible through clear communication, different languages and other practical ways of lowering the threshold.
But there is another important piece – partnerships.
Cultural organisations cannot always reach new audiences on their own. The research highlights the value of cooperation between cultural organisations, integration services, state organisations, NGOs, language courses and immigrant communities.
This is where organisations like Luckan can help build a bridge.
From partnership to participation
At Luckan Integration, we work directly with people who are new to Finland and with people who are already established in the Swedish-speaking community.
Our FIKA mentorship programme brings these two groups together through one-to-one mentoring. Over several months, mentor pairs meet, talk, explore their interests, practice languages and learn from each other. Culture is one natural way for these relationships to grow.
That is why we have been so happy to develop our FIKA cultural partnerships with Amos Rex, Ateneum Art Museum, Svenska Teatern, Lilla Teatern and Teater Viirus.
A museum visit, or theatre performance, may seem like a small thing but, for a FIKA pair, it can become a shared experience and a starting point for conversation.
What did you think of the exhibition?
Which artwork did you like?
What was familiar or unfamiliar?
Have you been to a theatre in Finland before?
What kind of culture did you grow up with?
These are simple questions, but they can lead somewhere much bigger.
They can lead to stories, language practice, new perspectives and a deeper understanding of one another.
Integration works in both directions
One of the things we value most about FIKA, is that integration is not a one-way process.
The mentor is not simply “teaching” the newcomer about Finland. Both people bring their own experiences, knowledge, culture and perspectives to the relationship.
The same can be true of cultural participation.
When cultural organisations reach out to new audiences, newcomers are not simply people who need to be introduced to Finnish culture. They also bring their own experiences, interests and perspectives into cultural spaces.
This is why partnerships matter.
A cultural organisation can offer the experience, an organisation like Luckan can help create the connection, and the mentor and mentee bring the conversation to life.
Building bridges together
The E2 Research study concludes that culture has significant potential to support integration, while also emphasising that this potential is not yet fully used.
We believe partnerships are one practical way forward.
For cultural organisations, working with organisations that already have connections with migrant communities can make it easier to reach new audiences. For newcomers, these partnerships can create a more natural and welcoming route into the cultural life of their new home.
For everyone involved, culture can become a place to meet.
We are grateful to Amos Rex, Ateneum Art Museum, Svenska Teatern, Lilla Teatern and Teater Viirus for joining us in this work and helping our FIKA mentor pairs discover more of the cultural life around them.
Because integration does not only happen in classrooms, workplaces or official services.
Sometimes, it happens in a museum.
Sometimes, in a theatre.
And sometimes, simply when two people sit together, experience something new, and start talking.