Celebrated in March every year, the message of the national Anti-Racism Week will be highlighted in day-care centres and at schools, educational institutions and other services by the City of Tampere.
For the Anti-Racism Week – from 18 March to 24 March 2024 – the City of Tampere and other actors are organising many events around the city, such as the mobile adventure game AntiRacism Race in the city centre. Tammerkoski will be illuminated with celebratory colours to mark the opening night of the theme week on 18 March.
Kristina Kemi, who is coordinating the organisation of the Anti-Racism Week in Tampere, reminds that the Theme Year 2024 calls on everyone to take action when they notice racism in their environment.
- In recent years, the population of Tampere has grown greatly thanks to immigrants. As our local population and workforce become more international, we have to be receptive and ready for change, Kemi says.
One activity of the Anti-Racism Week is a mobile adventure game in the city centre. The locations of the AntiRacism Race game, organised on Thursday 21 March from 12:00 to 18:00, are all within one kilometre of the railway station. The game consists of six checkpoints and four activity points. The game is available in Finnish and English, and participants can go solo or work in groups of 2 to 10 people.
The main prize of the AntiRacism Race is lunch with Tampere Mayor Kalervo Kummola. Other prizes include gift cards.
To match the spirit of the theme week, the game teaches participants to recognise racism and learn about anti-racist thinking. The game is organised by the Services for International Skills together with associations promoting the integration of immigrants. More information about the game can be found on the event website.
During the Anti-Racism Week, you can also visit a living library in Hervanta. A living library promotes equality by enabling encounters between different kinds of people to increase respect for diversity, human rights and human dignity through conversation.
Instead of borrowing books, a living library is for meeting people representing different minorities. This leads to encounters, conversations and breaking prejudices.
Early childhood education and care and pre-primary education do anti-racism work every day. The theme is presented in a way that is suitable for children, for example with literature, drama and artistic expression. A particular focus when working with children is to create friendships and prevent bullying and discrimination. Each day-care centre also has an operational equality and non-discrimination plan.
Strengthening personnel competence is key in promoting equality. As part of the theme week, training on anti-racism will be organised for personnel on Thursday 21 March. The educator is Non-Discrimination Specialist and Educator Javiera Marchant Aedo.
Basic education in the City of Tampere is participating in the Anti-Racism Week on 11–22 March with an exhibition of the finalists of a youth poster competition. Students from Tampere upper secondary schools also participated in the poster competition. In the competition, children and young people were tasked to address anti-racism and equality with visual arts. The wonderful results will be on display for two weeks from Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 20:00. The exhibition will be in Galleria Vivi (Youth Culture Centre 13, at Pellavatehtaankatu 4). Entry to the exhibition is free of charge.
The Anti-Racism Week will also be featured in school lessons. Each basic education school in Tampere has received a materials package to support teaching about the topic.
Last autumn, an extensive survey was organised for pupils to map out experiences of and wishes for combating racism at school. The survey responses have been integrated into the plans for theme weeks. The starting point for planning is active anti-racist work in everyday life and taking equality into account in everything.
During the theme week, all Tampere upper secondary school students will participate in a lesson where they will discuss different ways of intervening in racism. Students can also take a Teflon test to help them understand whether they are being discriminated against in their own lives and whether they notice discrimination in their environment.
The Tampere High School of Technology will also have a recess living room on two days. Students can visit different activity points to learn about anti-racism and discrimination and participate in competitions with a related theme. Organisers of activity points include Hervanta parish, Finnish Red Cross, rainbow youth work, Hepolamminkatu campus school psychologist and school social worker, and Tampere Peace Research Institute.
Teachers of general upper secondary schools will also have access to tips by Tampere World School about teaching materials, books and TV shows.
More information on the theme week and its many events is available on the Anti-Racism Week website.
