Emerging Joint Expertise? : Multiagency Collaboration Described in Local Integration Programmes in Finland

Abstract

Multiagency collaboration is seen as an essential way of working to promote the two-way integration of newcomers and a receiving society. The term multiagency collaboration underlines the diversity of actors in cooperation. Cross-sectorial networks are mentioned in higher strategies as well as in the local programmes or plans for action. But how is multiagency work structured at the local level? This article looks at the examples of multiagency collaboration in the written documents of local integration programmes in the Finnish context. The examples are chosen from different areas. It seems that collaboration is widely emphasized as a goal or a working method. Whereas expertise in integration work is relatively novel in Finland, more analytical awareness of multiagency collaboration could support learning in networks and developing hybrid practices in this emerging field of knowledge.