This interdisciplinary project investigates Ukrainians who left Ukraine in 2022 and their access to rural school and work communities through the lens of language, engagement and belonging. The research is carried out in Finland and Hungary and focuses on three groups: 1) previous seasonal workers, 2) skilled migrants with degrees in education or health care from Ukraine, and 3) youth in the late school-age years (16+) whose educational and employment trajectories are shaped by limited opportunities and an uncertain future. The project combines theories, methods and approaches of applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, and rural studies. It is implemented using ethnographic methods within a nexus analytical framework. The research project provides knowledge on what kind of opportunities for language learning engagement and belonging the rural environment offers to Ukrainians, and how their presence transforms the linguistic and social reality of rural communities.

2023

2027