Researchers Mervi Ruokolainen, Kirsi Unkila and Miia Wikström from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) presented results from the SYNCLUSIVE project at the Finnish Working Life Conference (Työelämän tutkimuspäivät) at Tampere University on 5–6 November 2026.
Held every two years, the conference brought together nearly 500 researchers, working-life developers and professionals. This year’s theme was inequality in working life, a topic closely connected to the issues addressed in the SYNCLUSIVE project. The programme included 3 keynote lectures, 6 symposiums, 32 thematic working groups and 257 scientific presentations.
Kirsi Unkila and Miia Wikström participated in a working group focusing on employment promotion, multi-actor collaboration and mechanisms producing inequality.
Kirsi presented research findings on building and maintaining a local coalition in the Kokkola Living Lab, with a particular focus on insights from the realist evaluation. The findings attracted considerable interest, as many employment regions in Finland are interested in developing similar forms of collaboration to address employment challenges.
Miia presented the implementation of Taite programme, a peer group coaching method for unemployed jobseekers, as well as findings on its effectiveness based on survey, interview and register data. Taite attracted particular interest among practitioners, as the programme is currently being introduced in several employment regions across Finland and is one of the few services for jobseekers whose effectiveness has been extensively studied.
Mervi participated in a working group focusing on changes in human resource management. She presented the Guiding Skills and Development supervisor training programme developed within SYNCLUSIVE, together with findings from its evaluation in Kokkola. Although conducted as a pilot study, the results indicated that the training strengthened supervisors’ competences in supporting employees’ skills development and career progression.
All three presenters also introduced the forthcoming Living Lab Handbook, which sparked particular interest among practitioners.