The project is carried out by the Estonian Refugee Council and the University of Tartu Center of Ethics in co-operation with The Estonian Ministry of Education and Research and Innove Foundation.

The aim of the project is to prepare kindergartens for receiving kids with migration or refugee background and creating a culturally and religiously diverse and tolerant study environment.

What creates the need for our project? Unlike schools,  kindergartens questions of migration and refugees have received relatively little attention. On the one hand there is a lack of information regarding the well-being of kids with migration or refugee background studying in Estonian kindergartens; the challenges faced by the kindergarten teachers; the kind of help they need and who could provide it the best. On the other hand, there is a pressing need for good-quality methodological materials and trainings regarding these issues.

During the project:

• we will assemble a study-network of seven kindergartens who will meet with each other to share best practises, for continuing education, for location visits and for a study visit to Finland;
• we will develop a network of experts from multiple stakeholders around the study-network who will support the project team in meeting the project goals
• we will develop methodological study materials (hand book and training videos) for kindergarten teachers;
• we will train kindergarten teachers from across Estonia;
• we will organise a conference to discuss the challenges and possibilities of a multicultural kindergarten group.