The district municipalities struggle with moving in and out. This is especially true in Northern Norway. But in Sortland in Vesterålen there are more of them. Here last year there was a net migration of 66 people in 2023, according to Statistics Norway. This means that more people came and stayed than those who moved away. According to the migrants themselves, one of the reasons is a network of migrants called “Link Vesterålen”. For newcomers who do not know the city from before, Lilian Hatling from the District Center believes that it is extra important to get a network and become part of the local community. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news – When you move to a completely new city, you are almost dependent on getting to know new people in order to thrive, says Lene Tronerud, who has moved to Sortland. The adviser for the district municipalities believes that the municipalities can become better at focusing on those who stay, instead of those who leave. – Plays a big role in the fact that I have stayed as long as Lene Tronrud actually comes from the Oslo area. But a couple of years ago she got a job in Sortland, a town with about 5,000 inhabitants. Quite quickly, the network of newcomers “Link Vesterålen” became important to ho. – We have had “sip and paint”. We’ve had an Abba night and frisbee golf, and there’s a lot going on in the future as well. Lene Tronrud says the network has been important in not feeling alone or lonely when she moved to a completely new place where she didn’t know anyone. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news What they come up with is up to the members. – Would you have stayed as long as you have, if it wasn’t for “Link Vesterålen”? – I didn’t have that. Then I think I would have been a little alone. It plays a big role in why I have stayed so long. The network has also given her friends outside the event. Emma Louise Norheim Ridderseth is fond of Northern Norway and would like to live in the region. But she wanted to test it out a bit before she made the choice. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news And it’s not just new arrivals in the network. Emma Louise Norheim Ridderseth has moved home to work in the municipality at the same time as she is writing a master’s degree at the University of Oslo. The network has also been important to her: – I think it can be very important to know that one can get to know young people who are early in their career and who want to come up with things together. – Focuses more on those who leave than those who come. Lillian Hatling, senior adviser at the District Centre, a competence center for the development of the districts, is not surprised that the initiative in Vesterålen has worked. – This is about being a 24-hour person. You have to have more than a house and a job to thrive in a place, she says. Lillian Hatling, adviser in the District Centre, says campaigns from the municipalities work to a lesser extent than getting tips from people you identify with. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news – Should this have been something that was organized regionally or nationally? – I think it will be best if such measures are locally rooted and initiated. There must be someone at the top who is close, and sees what possibilities there are. Municipalities arrange it in other ways as well. In some municipalities, business networks for young people have been established. Others have similar arrangements at a municipal level. – There are municipalities with migration services and migration hosts. But it is not certain that the measure will be the best if it comes from a municipal position. In Sortland municipality, there was a net migration of 66 people in 2023, according to Statistics Norway. This means that more people came and stayed than those who moved away. Photo: Torgeir Sørensen / Torgeir Sørens – Those who are in the target group themselves know what they are missing when they came. The adviser says the municipalities often focus more on those who leave the municipality than those who come. This is what the District Center is trying to make people aware of. – Taking care of those who come can have a greater effect on the population development than trying to lure displaced young people and families with children home. The employer should facilitate Angelica Remmen is chairwoman of “Link Vesterålen”. When she moved home, she worked in a recruitment company and had studied repatriation. This was therefore a project that engaged him. – Before Link Vesterålen, people missed having someone to go to a cafe, shopping, celebrate 17 May or their birthday with, for example, says Remmen. – It was simply to have someone to hang out with. Creating a group of friends is a bit forced in a way. Angelica Remmen says that she has experienced that the business world is often interested in supporting the event: – They struggle with recruitment and getting enough people to work. Therefore, they are often very willing to get involved. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news – What is actually required? – It requires work and that you persevere, and perhaps that you have an employer who is flexible and gives you the opportunity to spend some of your working time on this. At the start, Angelica traveled around alone for almost a year in the region and started events. Some happened during the day, a lot in the afternoon, evening and weekends. The members of Link Vesterålen have done many different things together. On this day, they will cook dinner together. In the past, they have gone to the sauna, played frisbee golf and been to a restaurant to name a few. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news Hatling in the District Center believes that municipalities should support measures such as “Link Vesterålen”, either financially or by facilitating working life. Then Remmen thinks it is affordable for others to create similar organizations themselves, in other places. – If there are two or three people who see a need for it, all you have to do is start inviting them in. One does not need more than that. Published 12.11.2024, at 11.53
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A network for immigrants and returnees makes people stay – news Nordland
