KASUTA – to grow up with Kven / Norwegian-Finnish background

What do young people with Kven/Norwegian Finnish background need when it comes to school, and public and voluntary mental health services?

KASUTA means "to grow up" in Kven language. Kvens/ Norwegian Finns are the largest national minority group in Norway and have been subjected to long-term assimilation processes. The consequences of assimilation can be cumulative discrimination, which means a buildup of experiences of discrimination across generations and areas of society.

The participants in the project are a research group consisting of researchers from RKBU Nord, NTNU, and Umeå University, and co-researchers from Mental Health Youth and Kvääninuoret/Kvenungdommen. Those who will be interviewed are young people with Kven/Norwegian Finnish background who are competent to give consent, and representatives from schools and public and voluntary mental health services.

The reference group consists of representatives from voluntary organizations, representatives from the relevant service education and municipalities, representatives from Kven language centers, and a representative from another national minority, the Tater Association. The representative for the Tater Association contributes to ensuring that the results of the project in the form of concrete measures have transferability to other national minorities. The project is funded by the Dam Foundation.

The project period is from 1.1.2024 to 31.12.2026.