Best practices from Iceland
Below are links and brief descriptions of best practices related to integration, education and youth empowerment.

– The skills accreditation system in Iceland, you can read all about it on the website of the Education and Training Service Centre (ETSC).
– Supporting women back into the labour market
– About homelessness in Iceland from the Icelandic Review in December 2021 very similar to the current figure.
– Local newspaper article featuring an interview with Ragnar, one of the founders of the homeless men’s association in Iceland.
– Viðmót samtök um mannúðlega vímuefnastefnu (Interface – Humanitarian Drug Policy Association) fights for the rights of homeless people.
– Nordic welfare indicators
– Employment, social affairs and integration in Iceland.
– ÖBÍ – Icelandic Federation of Disability Alliance, it is not possible to find the campaign they organised parallel to the state elections (even in Icelandic, as the ads have a short lifespan).
– Móðurmál – Association for Bilingualism: Works on projects such as inclusive classrooms and teaching, guidance and training materials for teachers.
Fjölsmiðjan (production workshop)
Fjölsmiðjan is a vocational centre for young people (aged 16-24) who are not in employment or training (NEET). At Fjölsmiðjan, young people can train for work and/or prepare for education. Hours are 08:30 to 15:00 and students receive a paid training stipend and are provided with breakfast and lunch. Fjölsmiðjan also organises short courses for older groups and migrants in cooperation with the Labour Office.
Fjölsmiðjan in Reykjavik was founded in 2001 by the Red Cross, the Ministry of Social Welfare, the Labour Office and municipalities in the Capital Region. The idea is based on the ‘Produktionsskoler’ in Denmark. Fjölsmiðjan constantly strives to maintain good relations with both the labour market and social welfare services, and wants to provide a way for young people to explore and train for a better future.
Key objectives and methodology
Fjölsmiðjan’s key objective is that students/participants who enter vocational training in Fjölsmiðjan leave as strong individuals, with social and vocational skills that will give them a better chance for the future.
Summary
Fjölsmiðjan or the Scandinavian ‘Produktionsskoler’ model, which recognises that it is important to work with each person and provide the professional support they need to build on their strengths and work through limitations such as dyslexia, depression, anxiety, trauma or addictions. By focusing on vocational training and production, Fjölsmiðjan provides students with a purpose and a visual outcome of their efforts, different from academic or traditional education.
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leverage in the labour market. Participants can seek help from Fjölsmiðjan after completing their training, both in terms of learning support and career counselling.
Fjölsmiðjan provides vocational training in 5 branches serving different clients:
– Catering, where participants prepare breakfast and lunch daily for staff and other participants, learning key skills related to working in catering, menu development, etc.
– Mechanics and Technology, where participants inspect and repair used electronic equipment, which the Red Cross then sells in its second-hand shop. – Car washing for individuals and organisations.
– Carpentry, mainly related to building pallets for Norðurál, an aluminium smelter, as well as smaller projects and innovations.
– Crafts and packaging, including the packaging of products, gifts and gift baskets, as well as the production of handicrafts that are then sold by Fjölsmiðjan, such as knitted gloves and hats.
Fjölsmiðjan’s business model is based on fees from municipalities in the capital area based on referrals from people from their social services, as well as referrals from the labour office and the VIRK rehabilitation fund. During the training, visits to companies are organised in parallel with career counselling and support. Special training for dyslexic students is provided, as well as cognitive behavioural therapy against depression, anxiety and other mental challenges.
Fjölsmiðjan uses the 5 steps of wellbeing methodology (see link to NHS page on this approach) in all its training, focusing on individualising the training and meeting participants where they are, with love and respect. The steps include: connecting with other people, physical activity, learning new skills, giving to others, paying attention to the present moment (mindfulness).
Fjölsmiðjan looks for ways to innovate by designing their own products that match their students’ abilities, such as tablecloths and dolls. Their students tend to be very creative while suffering from depression and anxiety, and creativity and design can become key to working with the mental problems of this group. Fjölsmiðjan also wants to put more emphasis on physical activity or exercise to improve mental and physical health.
Hringsjá – Vocational rehabilitation centre
Hringsjá is a vocational rehabilitation centre for people over the age of 18 who have fallen out of the labour market and/or education due to illness, accident or other trauma and want a fresh start. Hringsjá was founded in 1987 by ÖBÍ (an organisation of people with disabilities in Iceland) and around 1,000 people have benefited from their training. The training ranges from one-to-one courses to long-term individualised vocational training divided into three semesters, including 1200-2000 hours of classroom and homework and follow-up. Hringsjá’s follow-up survey shows that 75% of people returned to education or work after completing the vocational training.
Summary
Hringsjá provides training and support to young people without work or employment, the main aim is to make them independent and help them apply for a job, start or continue their education on the labour market.
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Main objectives
Hringsjá focuses on providing students with strong and individualised training or ‘helping people to help themselves’. During their studies, all students can seek professional help alongside classroom training to work with dyslexia, mental health problems, individual tutoring, etc. More than 60 per cent of Hringjá participants are aged 18-30, with the largest age group being 21-25 (35.1 per cent). The training is particularly suitable for people who have little or no formal education or have experienced limitations or difficulties in training and education in the past. The main objectives of Hringsjá’s vocational training:
– To lay or update the participants’ knowledge base
– To prepare participants for general office and service work by training them in IT and accounting skills.
– Increase self-confidence, self-efficacy and courage.
– Increase participants’ confidence and knowledge to enable them to identify their wishes, goals, skills, talents and limitations.
– Increase participants’ social skills and participation.
– Enhance the quality of life of individuals and their families.
The training includes subjects such as Icelandic language, English, mathematics and accounting, information technology, arts, social sciences, learning skills, labour market skills and independence skills.
Hringsjá’s activities are funded by the sale of services to the Labour Office, the VIRK rehabilitation fund, the City of Reykjavík and other municipalities. The owner and founder of ÖBI Hringsjá provides an annual subsidy for its activities (Hringsjá, Annual Report 2018).
According to Helga Eysteinsdóttir, director of Hringsjá, the majority of NEETs (18-29 years old) continue their education after graduation and 40% receive support from Hringsjá in parallel with their ongoing training. Most of the students attend vocational schools that grant vocational accreditation according to the National Occupational Standards (NOS). During their training at Hringsjá, students can focus on a variety of topics, accounting, general courses needed to complete vocational training, etc.
Tinna – a chance for a better life
TINNA is an initiative for young single parents who want positive changes for themselves and their children. The project started as a pilot for Breiðholt, one of the city’s neighbourhoods, and was later expanded, the project is still located in the Gerðuberg community centre in Breiðholt. In 2021, a total of 68 parents with 131 children participated in the project, of which 51 parents were still active at the end of the year.
TINNA is an innovative community initiative based on research conducted at the University of Iceland, which showed that children of poverty-stricken parents have limited access to recreational activities compared to other children, see the report ‘Marginalised parents – child wellbeing’. These children are themselves more likely to be marginalised and have fewer opportunities for employment and education.
Starting in 2020, the initiative is a collaboration between the City of Reykjavík’s social welfare department and the Ministry of Education and Children. To be eligible, you must be aged 18-24, live in Reykjavík and receive financial assistance from the city, disability or
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rehabilitation benefits. A key qualification is that the participants themselves are interested and committed to making positive changes in their own and their children’s lives. The process begins with a social worker or counsellor completing an application, which is then considered by a steering committee based on the results of the screening and assessment of the applicant by their social worker.
The TINNA project is a good practice that can be used to demonstrate how research and analysis of different target groups of beneficiaries can lead to social innovation in the public sector and how a small pilot project in one neighbourhood can be transferred to the whole city and perhaps to the whole welfare system in the future. The project also shows the importance of involving different stakeholders and linking the project to already existing initiatives and available services.
Social innovation in the public social care system is often closely linked to research and development, collaboration with universities and research institutions or research in action by professionals working in the system. This highlights the importance of continually reviewing and improving social care processes based on reliable information.
Our world (Okkar heimur)
Okkar heimur (Our World) helps young people whose parent suffers from a mental illness. Sigríður, a young woman, started this initiative because she herself experienced a total lack of support as a child, living with a mentally ill mother. She decided to do something about it and feels that this project is her purpose in life.
Sigríður started the initiative as a project within Geðhjálp (Mental Health Association) in 2019, and became an independent non-profit on 2 February 2022. Sigríður collaborates with Þórunn Edda, a social worker and Hrafntinn actress and acting teacher. Þórunn and Sigríður met when Þórunn was writing her final thesis in social work at the University of Iceland (2019), interviewing the children of parents with mental illnesses, exploring their experiences, in parallel and after completing her master’s degree. ‘It was our destiny to work together on this project,’ says Sigríður, and strongly believes that professionalism and life experience are equally important in defining and designing support for the target group.
What challenges, problems/target groups does this good practice address?
Research has shown that one in five children worldwide has a parent with a mental illness. The activity is based on well-established research and a proven approach developed by the charity Our Time in the UK and includes training, support and public awareness initiatives. They run family workshops, provide support, training and resource materials to key stakeholders and develop peer support for young people Their website is aimed at the target group, including videos for peers, handouts on the support available and what to do in difficult situations.
Okkar heimur works with key stakeholders such as the National University Hospital, the City of Reykjavík, Geðhjálp and Bergið headspace, who sit on the steering committee. They have designed information materials that are distributed to children and young people of parents admitted to hospital or undergoing rehabilitation treatment.
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The Okkar heimur project is an excellent example of how lived experience, purpose and empathy lead to social innovation, and an example of a private non-profit social enterprise promoting social innovation in the social care sector.
This good practice also highlights the importance of solution design and user-led innovation in the social care sector as a prerequisite for understanding social challenges from the user’s perspective (empathy) before developing ideas and solutions to address or solve these challenges. It is therefore appropriate to apply the Design thinking approach to social innovation training in the social care sector, building on the collaboration and co-creation of solutions with a group of users and professionals.
Okkar heimur (Our World) is an example of an initiative that is transferred from one country to another based on available research and stakeholder involvement. This emphasises the importance of researching available resources, information and solutions before starting to develop one’s own solution to a societal challenge or problem. Stakeholder analysis and subsequent engagement is also a key element of a successful project in the social care sector.