Integration Through Contribution Seminar 4: Refugees as Environmental Actors: Participation in Environmental, Climate and Nature-based Activities

The seminar series is organized by the project "Nature Welcomes All" funded by Kone Foundation, in partnership with the Biodiversity Anthropocenes Research Programme and the doctoral research programme “Entanglements of Migration and Time in Post-industrial Urban Europe" (MITIME).

Welcome to join us online!

Migrants shaping human-nature interaction in a new society – Perspectives on social, environmental and economic sustainability

Kati Turtiainen (University of Jyväskylä, Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius, Finland)

Abstract. Migrants’ relationships with nature are highly diverse and shaped by their geographical, cultural, and individual backgrounds. The reasons for coming to Finland - whether to settle permanently or to work as a seasonal worker - also have a significant influence on how these relationships are formed from social, environmental, and economic perspectives. In some cases, migration itself may be linked to climate change in the regions of origin. Consequently, human–nature interactions in a new environment can vary considerably. In this context, civil society actors and public authorities may play a key role in shaping these relationships in a sustainable way. In this presentation, I will address these issues based on my own experience, my research, and the work of other scholars in this field.

Kati Turtiainen works as a Professor of Social Work at the University of Jyväskylä, at the Kokkola University Consortium Chydenius. Before entering academia in 2014, she worked as the Director of Immigration Services for the City of Jyväskylä. During her career, she has participated in several national and international research and development projects related to strengthening the inclusion of migrants, especially forced migrants. As former practitioner, she developed nature-based integration activities with other stakeholders. She also authored a Feasibility study on the potential of community-based sponsorship in Finland. Recently, she participated in the EU-funded research project namely: Applying Sustainability Transition Research in Social Work tackling Major Societal Challenge of Social Inclusion – ASTRA, where she, among other responsibilities, supervised early-stage researchers on issues related to social and environmental sustainability transition.

Nature-Based Integration: Fostering Well-being, Belonging and Environmental Participation in the Nordic Countries

Anna María Páldóttir (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden)

Abstract. How can engagement with nature support refugees and migrants in developing well-being, a sense of belonging, and connections to a new place? Research from the Nordic countries has examined the potential of nature-based activities to support integration, highlighting natural environments as settings for social interaction, learning, rehabilitation, and participation in community life. This presentation draws on research into nature-based integration in theory and practice, including vocational rehabilitation, therapeutic horticulture, urban agricultural training, and nature conservation. A Nordic review of nature-based integration initiatives identified diverse ways in which nature and outdoor activities can create opportunities for participation and social inclusion. Subsequent research has examined how these opportunities are translated into practice. A therapeutic nature programme for refugees experiencing trauma examined the potential of horticultural activities to support well-being, social relationships, skills development, and pathways into the labour market. Research on urban agricultural vocational training in Sweden explored how participation in shared practical activities could foster migrants’ sense of belonging. More recent research on a nature-based vocational training programme involving migrants and Swedish participants investigated well-being using the Five Ways to Wellbeing framework. The programme combined practical nature conservation and management activities with opportunities for learning, physical activity, social interaction, and engagement with the natural environment. Together, these studies highlight three interconnected dimensions of nature-based integration: opportunities to experience well-being and to connect with nature; opportunities to build relationships and foster a sense of belonging; and opportunities to contribute to local communities through meaningful activities, skills development, and environmental stewardship. The presentation will discuss how nature-based initiatives can support integration by enabling refugees and migrants to engage with their new surroundings, develop relationships with others, and participate in caring for the natural environment. It will also consider the importance of inclusive programme design, supportive facilitation, and recognising participants’ individual experiences, needs, and aspirations. The presentation aims to contribute to discussion about how refugees and migrants can be recognised not only as recipients of support, but also as active participants in, and contributors to, the social and environmental life of their new communities.

Dr Anna María Pálsdóttir is an Associate Professor and senior lecturer in environmental psychology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Department of People and Society, in Alnarp, Sweden. A trained horticulturist, she holds a BSc in Biology and Horticultural Sciences, as well as an MSc and PhD in Landscape Planning and Environmental Psychology. Her research advances the conceptual development and scientific evaluation of nature-based and nature-assisted interventions to promote human health and well-being. Working across landscape architecture, environmental psychology, horticulture, and health sciences, she investigates how outdoor environments, nature-based activities, and meaningful engagement with nature can support health, recovery, rehabilitation, and social inclusion. A central focus of her work is understanding how to design, implement, and evaluate interventions for different target groups and settings, including healthcare and vocational training. Between 2015 and 2020, she led the evaluation of three nature-based vocational training programmes for migrants, supported by the Swedish Public Employment Service and developed in collaboration with public and private stakeholders. This work contributes to a broader understanding of how nature-based activities can support well-being, skills development, social inclusion, and integration. Dr Pálsdóttir is also a co-founder of the master’s programme Outdoor Environments for Health and Well-Being at SLU. Together with fellow educators, she has developed courses on nature-based interventions, nature- and animal-assisted interventions, and sensory experiences in outdoor environments, addressing the relationships among landscape, meaningful activities, health, and well-being.

(Im)mobility, Belonging, and the Making of Youth Environmental Identity: Insights for Migration and Mobility Studies

Turkan Firinci Orman (Migration Institute of Finland)

Abstract. This presentation explores youth environmental identity through the interconnected lenses of (im)mobility, place-based learning, and urban belonging. It builds on research on how young people develop eco-literacy and environmental engagement through everyday spatial experiences, rather than through formal knowledge alone. The presentation argues that environmental identity is fundamentally shaped through geo-social processes, where movement and immobility are constitutive of how young people relate to place, nature, and urban environments. Drawing on comparative research from Turkey, Bulgaria, and Finland, it shows how everyday spatial practices, educational contexts, and life-course experiences shape differentiated forms of environmental awareness and belonging. These processes are deeply embedded in unequal social and spatial conditions, influencing both opportunities for participation and experiences of exclusion. From this perspective, (im)mobility is not only a background condition but a key mechanism through which environmental subjectivities and senses of belonging are formed. While the analysis is grounded in youth research, it offers conceptual insights for migration and mobility studies by showing how place-based environmental learning and belonging may also be shaped under diverse mobility conditions, including those experienced by young people with migration backgrounds.

Dr. Turkan Firinci Orman is an interdisciplinary youth researcher and Visiting Fellow at the Migration Institute of Finland. She holds the title of Docent in Sociology and a PhD in Education, and specialises in youth environmental citizenship, climate activism, childhood and youth studies, urban belonging, critical environmental pedagogy, and sustainability education. Her background combines academic research with professional experience in UN agencies and European Commission-funded programmes, bridging critical social theory and applied international collaboration in the fields of youth, education, migration, and social inclusion. Her current project in Tampere explores how young people with internal and transnational mobility backgrounds experience urban life, construct belonging, and engage with environmental issues through their everyday practices and place-based experiences. She has held research and teaching positions at several universities, including Aalto University and Tampere University of Applied Sciences, as well as previous tenured academic appointments. Her scholarship advances relational and practice-based theories of citizenship, examining how political subjectivities, solidarities, and collective agency are enacted under conditions of social and ecological crisis. Her work has been published in leading international peer-reviewed journals, including Childhood, Children’s Geographies, Environmental Education Research, Youth, and Philosophy & Social Criticism.