The study highlights that new immigrants living in Tallinn appreciate the city’s living environment for its safety, cleanliness, and compactness. However, they face significant adaptation challenges, intensified by language barriers, limited social networks, and fragmented access to essential information. Partial or insufficient knowledge of the Estonian language restricts access to services and the labor market, while a lack of social contacts increases feelings of loneliness and reduces a sense of belonging to the local community.
The report emphasizes that to achieve better integration, it is essential to strengthen social ties with local residents, improve language learning opportunities, and make information about adaptation services more accessible and multilingual. Particularly important is the creation of a service that explains the unwritten rules and norms of Estonian society. In addition, it is crucial to develop community counseling, mentoring, and volunteer opportunities that enhance immigrants’ participation in urban life.
As key recommendations, the study proposes establishing a centralized and multilingual information platform, offering more flexible language training, and supporting intercultural and community-based initiatives. It also recommends increasing the visibility of immigrant success stories in local media, improving the transparency of city communication, and enhancing cooperation between schools, healthcare providers, and local organizations to ensure a smoother and more inclusive adaptation process.