Nature welcomes all

Application summary

What happens when people who have lost their homes find themselves in a forest they have never seen before, in a country where everything is new: the language, the landscapes, and even the sounds of birds? Nature welcomes all is a project that begins with this question, because displacement often begins with disorientation, not only geographical, but also cultural and emotional. Dominant narratives increasingly portray refugees as risks, rather than as individuals seeking safety and belonging, or as contributors who can enrich their new communities. This project rejects that logic, working instead to build inclusive connections between individuals, communities, and nature. Through nature engagement and citizen science, we will test an inclusive and participatory model of refugee integration. In the coming four years, we will work with refugees and migrants with different backgrounds in Finland, focusing on Ukrainian ones, to explore how nature, and especially citizen science, can help people reconnect, belong, and feel part of something again. By inviting refugees to take part in outdoor activities like species monitoring, nature walks, and bioblitzes, we want to create spaces where they can both learn and contribute, discover and be discovered. We will set up five Nature clubs in different regions of Finland. These will be more than just groups, they will be places of belonging, where newcomers and locals share stories, observations, and knowledge about the living world around them. Alongside the grassroots work, the project includes participatory evaluation, eight online thematic seminars, a final conference, training for professionals across the Nordic-Baltic region, and policy engagement. The project outcomes will be shared through scientific publications, practice-oriented tools, and a policy guide for scaling inclusive nature-based integration models in Finland and beyond. Nature doesn't ask who you are, it welcomes you, just as you are.