From participation to policy: how design helps citizens shape immigration? It was the title of this presentation on the 15.9.2023, in the conference Legal Design. In this presentation, you will get a behind-the-scenes look at the real-life design work carried out for the preliminary studies of Finland's forthcoming immigration law, the Aliens Act. The project took place at the Department of Immigration within the Ministry of the Interior from 2021 to 2023, and it has been recently published and can be accessed here: https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/handle/10024/164810. . Throughout the process, we integrated service design approaches at both operational and strategic levels, and during this presentation I will open up about my experience as designer. My aim was to have an open and honest conversation about the challenges of using participatory practices in lawmaking, using this case study as a prime example. I explore how design could play a pivotal role in creating a more inclusive and citizen-centered approach to shaping immigration policy.

1. From participation to policy
Dra. Mariana Salgado
Legal design
15.9.2023
How design helps citizens shape immigration?
mariana.salgado@iki.fi
@Salgado

2. More in:
Twitter: @inlandDesign
Website:
inlanddesign.fi
More in:
Twitter: @disenoydiaspora
Website:
disenoydiaspora.org

3. What is the role of a service designer
in the Ministry of the Interior?

4. In the Finnish Inmigration Service
Create new digital services
Bosses committed to
innovation and the creation of
the lab
In the Ministry of the Interior
Collaborate in transdiciplinary teams for
the creation of new laws and policies
Need to justify our work on
permanent basis
Operative Strategic

5. In the Finnish Inmigration Service
Create new digital services
Bosses committed to
innovation and the creation of
the lab
In the Ministry of the Interior
Collaborate in transdiciplinary teams for
the creation of new laws and policies
Need to justify our work on
permanent basis
Execution Creation

6. PUBLIC SECTOR IN FINLAND
2 designers in the State Council
Execution C
450 designers and
design enthusiasts

7. Photo
by
Nathan
Dumlao
on
Unsplash
Services?

8. Photo
by
Nathan
Dumlao
on
Unsplash
Processes
Participations
Strategies
Colaborations

9. What is a public policy?
A course or plan of action
adopted by a government,
party, person, etc. (OECD)
The strategy for Finns in the diaspora
An action plan (LAMA)
Decision making paper on internal security
Finland’s Comprehensive Migration Policy
Aliens Act (pre-study)
In my work

10. Participation in the preliminary studies - Aliens Act
Online questionaire
Tecnology development
discussion
Residence permit
workshop
Immigration seminar
Immigration dialogues
Deportation workshop
Human rights workshop
Legal validity/
workability workshops

11. #immigrationdialogues
Immigration dialogues

14. How it is to move to Finland?
How the immigration
change the daily life
of a person?
What are the challenges
and opportunities of
migration?
How can we support the
participation of
immigrants in society?
How is your experience
looking for work as
immigrant?

15. #maahanmuuttodialogit
#immigrationdialogues

16. #maahanmuuttodialogit
Arrival in Finland
"Finland is a safe country."
"I have lived in many countries, but Finland was the most
di
ffi
cult country to move to."
"A passerby hit me on the shoulders, spit on me and said:
“Get out of Finland."
"Being an undocumented immigrant was the worst
ti
me of
my life”
"More general considera
ti
on and leeway in the legisla
ti
on
is required, to accommodate people’s real-life situa
ti
ons in
the interpreta
ti
ons."
#diálogosdeinmigración

17. #maahanmuuttodialogit
Key points in integration
“Moving to a country is one thing, and becoming part
of society and adapting to it is quite another.”
“How difficult is Finnish on a scale of 1 to 10? The
difficulty of the Finnish language on this scale is 10.”
“Should Finns be integrated into accepting immigrants
into their society?”
“A stranger becomes familiar, and people’s starting
points no longer matter.”
#immigrationdialogues

18. #maahanmuuttodialogit
On employment
“Is a foreign worker a commodity or a human being?”
“They think that a foreigner can’t do the same as a
Finn.”
“Even if you have a university degree, you’re a baby in
Finland. You have to go back to school and start all over
again.”
“Managing a diverse work community requires new
skills, flexibility and continuous learning.”
#immigrationdialogues
Picture
by
Alan
Levine
@Flickr

19. Kiitos!

20. How design could play a pivotal role in creating
a more inclusive and citizen-centered approach
to shaping immigration policy?

21. #DESIGNING PARTICIPATION
Actor A
Actor B
Actor C
Actor A
Actor B
Actor C
Actor A
Actor B
Actor C
Starting the project
The process steps were borrow from http://kuulemisopas.finlex.fi/
Alternative solutions
Research on alternatives
Evaluation of alternatives
Legislative proposal
Insights
Inform about
the process

22. Bringing
design from
universities
NGOs
Minitry of the
Interior
Other public
sector
organizations
Universities
Private
sector
Participation plan
#EXPANDING COLLABORATIONS
Immigrants
Methods/tools
Resources

23. Final
document
Project set-up
#PROVIDING VISUAL TOOLS FOR THOUGHTS
Analitical
tools:
Customer
journeys
Collaborative
tools:
Mural
Visual
designer
1000 of
meetings
Final draft
Communication within coleagues
Non-hierarquical practices

24. What we could change?

25. What we could change?
Introduce novel work
methodologies
Enhance participation by
integrating it more
coherently into the
project
Promote more
equitable team
dynamics with
reduced hirarchies

26. What we could change?
Introduce novel work
methodologies
Utilize qualitative
research for informed
decision-making.
Enhance participation by
integrating it more
coherently into the
project
Incorporate
qualitative research
as a part of
government officials'
responsibilities.
Broaden the role of
what research could
bring to law making
Promote more
equitable team
dynamics with
reduced hirarchies

27. What we could change?
Introduce novel work
methodologies
Utilize qualitative
research for informed
decision-making.
Enhance participation by
integrating it more
coherently into the
project
Incorporate
qualitative research
as a part of
government officials'
responsibilities.
Broaden the role of
what research could
bring to law making
Embrace human
perspectives
Expand our
understanding of
stakeholder groups and
enhance our
collaborative network.
Strengthen
collaboration with
stakeholders
Promote more
equitable team
dynamics with
reduced hirarchies

28. What we cannot change?

29. What we cannot change?
The recently introduced
government program"
Participation comes with a
promise - if the decision for
the upcoming law change is
already made, asking people
to join in becomes pointless.
…

30. What we cannot change?
The recently introduced
government program"
Designing participation
hinges on our
willingness to listen.
How do our colleagues perceive
citizen participation, especially those
who've spent years working within the
same legal framework without much
exposure to citizen input?
As time progresses our
capacity to listen
expands
Participation comes with a
promise - if the decision for
the upcoming law change is
already made, asking people
to join in becomes pointless.
…

31. What we cannot change?
The recently introduced
government program
Designing participation
hinges on our
willingness to listen.
Distinguishing working
methodologies across our
respective disciplines
How do our colleagues perceive
citizen participation, especially those
who've spent years working within the
same legal framework without much
exposure to citizen input?
As time progresses our
capacity to listen
expands
Trust is a mutual dinamics.
Strategic designers at
the ministerial level are
not on permanent
contracts.
Design maturity.
Participation comes with a
promise - if the decision for
the upcoming law change is
already made, asking people
to join in becomes pointless.
…

32. Legal design, particularly when
applied to policy-making, has
the potential to enrich our
democracies.
It serves to engage citizens and
organizations, granting them
voices within the realm of
governmental decision-making.

33. QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?
Mariana Salgado
mariana.salgado@iki.fi
@Salgado