Did you know that one in five Estonians lives outside Estonia? With nearly 200,000 members, our global community is larger than most Estonian counties. The global Estonian information gateway globalestonian.com has been established to help Estonians maintain ties with their homeland and ensure that important information reaches all Estonians, regardless of where in the world they live.

‘Global Estonian, or globalestonian.com, is our direct line of communication with our compatriots around the world,’ emphasised Kaire Cocker, Head of Diaspora Services at the Integration Foundation. “Nearly 200,000 people constitute a very large community – this shows how important it is to maintain and strengthen ties and to be in a shared information space. Our goal is to offer opportunities and support to help maintain contact with Estonia and promote cohesion among Estonians around the world.

The information gateway is a hub for Estonian news, cultural and language learning opportunities, internship programs, business contacts, and information about community activities around the world. The events calendar helps keep track of Estonian events around the world – each community can add its own events so that the information reaches everyone.

‘We want every Estonian, regardless of where they live, to feel part of Estonia. In today’s global world, almost all of us have friends or relatives living abroad – it is important that they know how to stay in touch with their home country,’ adds Cocker.

A good example is Johanna Rivers, who lived in Australia and whose journey to Estonia took place step by step. ‘At first, I had no plans to come to Estonia, let alone move here. I missed Estonia and was looking for a way to “stay connected”, but I didn't know where to start,’ she says. ‘I wanted to know more about Estonia!’

‘During my search, I came across Global Estonian, where I found what seemed like a halfway solution – the opportunity to get a little taste of Estonia without having to make an immediate decision to move. That is how I discovered the internship programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which enabled me to come to Estonia for an internship. This experience helped me find a job later on, and I even decided to stay here for a while,’ adds Johanna.

Last year’s user survey shows that there is considerable interest in Estonia: almost 80% of Estonians living abroad follow Estonian news at least once a month. The most popular sources of information are Facebook, Estonian publications, Estonian organisations abroad, and streaming platforms.

On the portal you will find:

• practical advice in the section ‘Ekspert vastab’ (Expert Answers);
• information about opportunities to learn Estonian independently;
• overview of youth summer camps in Estonia;
• support for young people who wish to come for an internship or to study;
• information about funding opportunities for community events;
• practical guidance for those who wish to return to Estonia.

Interesting fact: in recent years, over 6,000 people of Estonian descent have returned to Estonia each year, and this number is on the rise. For those returning to Estonia, the information gateway offers a section entitled ‘Returning to Estonia’, where you can find services and stories to help you make a smooth transition back to your homeland.

Globalestonian.com is growing rapidly – it is used by nearly 4,000 people every month, the portal has thousands of followers on social media, and the community is becoming increasingly active.

The information gateway is managed by the Integration Foundation in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Education and Research. 

We expect teachers, doctors, police officers, and, of course, shop assistants and other service providers to speak Estonian. Language skills can determine whether you find a job or employee or are able to continue in your profession. Employers may find themselves in a difficult situation if some of their hard-working employees do not have the required level of Estonian language skills. Good language skills are therefore in the interests of customers, employees, and employers alike.

How can language practice be incorporated into working life? We hear various excuses as to why employees are not offered Estonian language training. For example, people claim they have no time to learn the language. However, today’s learning formats are often short, easy to integrate into everyday life, and even a few learning sessions can bring success. It should also be noted that language learning is not only the personal effort of the learner, but the shared responsibility and cooperation of the entire institution.

The Integration Foundation’s guide ‘Support your employees’ language learning!’ was compiled taking into account the experiences and needs of employers. Authors Helena Metslang (researcher in educational language policy and language learning) and Robert Szabo (Master of Education, developer and head of studies of international language programmes) describe the purpose of the guide. ‘Many hospitals, schools, and kindergartens have employees whose Estonian language skills need support, but managers and HR staff have often found that previous attempts have not yielded the desired results,’ says Metslang. Szabo adds, ‘The guide provides guidance on how to integrate language learning into working life in a way that benefits both the employee and the organisation as a whole. In the Estonian public sector, language learning is often project-based. Our goal is to show how language learning can be part of the organisation of work – not an extra burden, but a development opportunity.’

‘Support your employees’ language learning!’ consists of two parts:

1) The guide ‘Support your employees’ language learning!’ provides recommendations on how to plan language learning in your organisation, motivate employees, and evaluate results. The guide is available in A5 format as a printed publication and online.

2) Worksheets that help to implement language learning and adapt it to the workplace. The worksheets are in A5 format and can be printed out according to the needs of the organisation.

You can find the guide ‘Support your employees’ language learning!’ on the website of the Integration Foundation here. The printed version is available at the foundation’s offices in Tallinn and Narva.

The guide has been funded from state budget and with the support of the European Union’s Cohesion and Internal Security Policy Funds (ESF) for 2021–2027 within the framework of project No. 2021-2027.4.07.23-0005 under decree No. 80 of the Minister of Culture of 15 March 2023 ‘Conditions for granting support for the implementation of activities supporting integration, including adaptation, in Estonian society’.

The conference brought together more than two hundred participants – researchers, politicians, and civil society representatives – to discuss solutions that would help find common ground amid differences.

According to Minister of Culture Heidy Purga, finding a balance between unity and diversity is a major challenge for every democratic society. “The strength of a society lies in its ability to engage and listen. Unity does not mean that everyone should think alike, but that we can maintain a common value framework even when our views and experiences differ,” said Purga. “Democracy is not confined to political institutions – it lives in people’s everyday decisions, in the ways we interact and value each other.”

According to Dmitri Moskovtsev, Director of the Integration Foundation, growing diversity presents new challenges for Estonian society. “The question is whether we see this as a problem or as potential and opportunities for development. This mindset is what determines whether we will amplify potential tensions or focus on solutions. It is important to understand how well we can create conditions that support the inclusion and sense of belonging of people from different backgrounds,” said Moskovtsev.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Christophe Kamp highlighted Estonia’s evidence-based approach and language immersion programme, which has helped children from different backgrounds to succeed in Estonian-language education and reduced the risk of stratification. According to him, such solutions have also served as an example for other countries. Kamp also emphasised the importance of small everyday deeds by active members of the community – from teachers to local community leaders – that help people feel a sense of belonging in Estonian society.

Kerry McCall Magan, Country Director for British Council Ireland, highlighted in her presentation the role of cultural cooperation in building connections and trust. According to her, the experience of different countries has shown that the most effective initiatives are those that bring people together – educational projects, creative programmes, development of media literacy, and cross-border initiatives. These help different communities better understand each other and create a basis for strengthening trust, which has also been significant in relations between Ireland and the United Kingdom.

In the panel discussion “The resilience of democracy – a dream or societal choice?”, Professor Zsuzsa Csergő (Queen’s University, Canada), Dr Marina Nord (V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden), and Professor Stefano Braghiroli (University of Tartu) discussed the ability of democratic countries to function in a situation where polarisation and global crises are increasing tension in societies. The discussion highlighted that the resilience of democracy depends both on the meaningful engagement of minorities and on institutions that create space for participation and dialogue between different groups. Participants presented recent data on the global decline of democracy but emphasised that this trend can be reversed if societies recognise warning signs early on and maintain a culture of meaningful discussion. 

In his lecture “What is democratic resilience and how can we strengthen it?”, Professor Dr Wolfgang Merkel (Berlin Social Science Centre) pointed out that successive crises make democracies more vulnerable and that stability is maintained by a balance between institutions, political actors, and communities. According to Merkel, the resilience of democracy needs to be strengthened through dialogue and inclusion.

The political debate of Estonian parliamentary parties included Raimond Kaljulaid (SDE), Lea Danilson-Järg (Isamaa), Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski (Reform Party), Vadim Belobrovtsev (Centre Party), Mart Kallas (EKRE), and Aleksei Jašin (Eesti 200). The discussion focused on the decline in the sense of belonging, the impact of crises, and why political decisions should be made more transparent to the public. Several speakers emphasised the importance of broader dialogue and public involvement, noting that in the long term the transition to Estonian-language education will also help to increase cohesion.

In the panel discussion “Sense of belonging and social cohesion – what comes first?”, Dr Anneli Portman (Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare), Dr Olha Mukha (Institute of Resilience & Reconstruction, UK/Ukraine), Prof. Andero Uusberg (University of Tartu), and Kristjan Kaldur (Institute of Baltic Studies), emphasised that a sense of belonging is shaped by people’s everyday experiences, their value framework, and relationships within their community, and is closely linked to the information environment, political choices, and group identity.

You can watch the conference here: Integration Conference 2025