Cultural Sensitivity Encounters: The Making of VETOA’s First Podcast Episode

In March 2024, the joint European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)-funded VETOA project (also known as TRACTION in English), involving the Department of Nursing Science, the School of Humanities at the University of Eastern Finland, and the Centre for Continuous Learning, was launched. The project is led by Professor Tarja Kvist of the Department of Nursing Science, and the Project Manager is University Lecturer Krista Jokiniemi. The project team also includes Professor Tuulikki Kurki, University Lecturer Heli Paulasto, and Project Worker Sara Backman from the School of Humanities. From the Centre for Continuous Learning, Sanni Koivumäki and Virpi Moilanen, Continuous Learning Specialists, and Katja Koukkari, Academic Affairs Coordinator, are involved. The project team from the Department of Nursing Science also includes Project Coordinators Mea Wright and Hanna Rouvinen (1.6.2024-31.3.2025), as well as System Specialist Heidi Nieminen. The project ends in June 2026.

The VETOA project is a training project including courses and workshops targeted to personnel from the North Savo Welfare Area and private service provider Attendo. The first course of the project, “Multicultural Collaboration in Healthcare, 3 ECTS MOOC”, was launched in October 2024. As part of the course materials, a VETOA Podcast was prepared, with the first episode focusing on the theme of culturally sensitive encounters. This theme was chosen as the first topic of the podcast because it is an essential part of the VETOA project. In the project, cultural sensitivity is understood as a component of cultural competence. It involves the ability to understand, respect, and observe the values and beliefs of people from diverse cultural backgrounds, which in turn promotes successful and culturally sensitive interactions.

In particular, this VETOA podcast episode explores how cultural sensitivity can affect everyday encounters between people from different backgrounds and why it is important to consider it in today’s multicultural world.

For the first episode of the VETOA podcast, we were happy to welcome two guests from the Finnish Red Cross (in Finnish Suomen Punainen Risti, SPR): Mirjam, a volunteer supporting integration, and Hanna, a Planning Officer coordinating volunteer activities in the Savo-Karjala region. The content of the episode was created collaboratively. The purpose of the podcast is to share practical experiences and knowledge that can be utilized in nursing and in everyday encounters where there is no common language. This blog post chronicles the process of making the first episode of the VETOA podcast and gives a glimpse into the fruitful conversation we had with our guests. At the end of the blog post, you will find a link to the first episode of the VETOA podcast (duration: 29 minutes, in Finnish) and an English transcript.

Making of the first episode of VETOA podcast (1.8.2024 – 27.9.2024)
Reflections and Memories

• August 1, 2024: The idea for recording a VETOA podcast originated from a joint discussion by the VETOA project team. The team began outlining the content of the podcast and contacted the Finnish Red Cross (SPR) regarding the design of the joint podcast. This contact was based on SPR’s expertise and experience in working in a multicultural environment. The SPR showed interest in cooperation. Hanna and Mirjam from the SPR kindly agreed to be our guests in this episode, and recording the podcast was soon arranged.

SPR organizes various activities to support the integration of immigrants in Finland, particularly in the Savo-Karjala region. For example, our guest Mirjam volunteers with quota refugees, language café activities, and homework support for immigrants of different ages. Hanna’s work involves supporting volunteers in activities that aid the integration of immigrants, anti-racism work, and other immigration-related situations, such as family reunification and issues related to undocumented migrants. With this background, they truly have insight into this topic!

• August 14, 2024: The practical preparation work was about to start. The project team held a planning meeting for the first episode of the VETOA podcast. We visited the podcast recording studio at the Snellmania building at the University of Eastern Finland. Kimmo Salven, a media production specialist at the University of Eastern Finland, provided tips on how to make a podcast from both technical and practical perspectives.

• August 20, 2024: The first joint meeting with representatives of the SPR took place in the Department of Nursing Science. Together, we outlined the themes and content of the podcast, and the discussion was active. Based on this discussion, we were excited to see that a lot of interesting content is coming! It was a pleasure to start the collaboration, and we hoped that the finished episode would spark interest and discussion.

The Theme of First Encounters
When discussing with Mirjam and Hanna, it was interesting to hear about their experiences of meeting someone from a different culture for the first time and how to communicate without a common language. They shared how to express friendliness and respect nonverbally. Smiling always works, and it is important for everyone to feel safe and welcome in a new place. Creating a relaxed atmosphere is essential! However, it is good to be aware that what is considered polite varies across different cultures.

• August 30, 2024: The second meeting with SPR personnel took place at the Department of Nursing Science and via Teams remote connections. We reviewed the content of the podcast episode and discussed cultural sensitivity as a concept and the goals of the podcast. We pre-listened to the intro and outro music options for the podcast episode and selected a suitable one together. Copyright issues of the music, the collaboration agreement, and matters related to the further distribution of the podcast episode were also discussed.

Preparing for Cultural Encounters: Practical Tips
Like preparing for podcast recording, it is advisable to prepare for meeting someone from a different culture for the first time. Mirjam and Hanna gave some good, practical examples of how to prepare for a first encounter. Are some digital translation apps needed, or what else can we do to make the other person feel understood and warmly welcomed?

• September 6, 2024: The third meeting with SPR personnel took place via Teams, where we reviewed the content of the podcast episode and practiced for the recording situation.

• September 9, 2024: We did a dress rehearsal for the podcast recording at the University of Eastern Finland’s recording studio. With Kimmo’s friendly guidance, the final adjustments to the technology were made: the sound levels of the microphones were checked both in the studio and for those participating via remote connections. During the dress rehearsal, we also reviewed the use of the studio’s mixing console and gained confidence for the upcoming recording.

Embrace the Journey: Lessons from Novice Podcasting and Intercultural Encounters
What we learned along the way was that, as a novice podcaster, it is better not to take yourself too seriously. Sometimes it is okay to delve into it and go with the flow. In a way, the same applies to intercultural encounters. If there is no common language, acting out and gesturing are totally fine! Just be prepared to be present. If you feel a bit nervous, it is good to remember that your counterpart may feel the same way.

• September 11, 2024: Podcast episode recording day. Three people participated in the recording at the studio, and one joined via Teams remote connection. Once the microphone positions, mixing console, and headphones were adjusted, the Teams connection was ensured, and the podcast episode themes were reviewed, we were ready to record. The fruitful conversation extended to three hours with a small coffee break. Finally, we took some photos to remember the pleasant collaboration.

Shared Experiences Unite Us: Cooperation and Humor Across Language Barrier
One of the themes we discussed was how to get to know someone or cooperate when language barriers prevent us from having common conversations. We heard wonderful examples of how we might share similar experiences regardless of where we were born and raised. Or we might find the same everyday coincidences funny, and humor brings us closer to each other. There is always something in common.

• September 12, 2024: The audio editing software Audacity was chosen for editing the podcast episode. After listening to the content recorded during the long session, we did some preliminary editing according to our original plan. Fortunately, there were two listeners involved in the first editing phase, and having two pairs of ears helped highlight areas that needed clarification. It was also good to discuss the progress of the editing process together.

Working Together
As the VETOA project aims to contribute to successful cooperation in multicultural workplaces, teamwork and starting work in a new country were also themes we wanted to discuss with our guests. They emphasized that enough time is needed to learn a new language and routines. It is important to include new colleagues in common routines and coffee table discussions in the workplace. There may be a lot happening in their lives right now, and many things might have recently changed, so patience and kindness would surely be appreciated.

• September 13, 2024 – September 16, 2024: The editing of the podcast episode continued on Heidi’s desk, gradually becoming more refined towards the final version. Editing turned out to be a very interesting phase of the work, where the meticulous polishing of the audio tracks was quite engaging. After a few days of editing down to hundredths of a second, the podcast episode was ready for pre-listening on September 16.

• September 16, 2024 – September 20, 2024: Pre-listening of the podcast episode. Important feedback on the episode was received from the pre-listening group, which included members of the VETOA project team, SPR personnel involved in the podcast, and a few other volunteer test listeners. The episode was finalized based on the pre-listening experiences, with the final speech timings adjusted accordingly. Next, transcripts for the podcast episode were written in Finnish and English. We received support for the English transcript’s language review from our project team’s English teacher, Sara. Additionally, a person with an international background, who does not speak Finnish as their native language but uses English, reviewed the English transcript while listening to the episode.

• September 27, 2024: The first episode of the VETOA podcast, along with its transcripts, was ready. The episode was included as part of the VETOA training course ”Multicultural Collaboration in Healthcare, 3 ECTS MOOC” and shared with SPR’s collaboration partners. The experience was so inspiring and educational that new ideas for future episodes began to emerge immediately. It was clear that this podcast could not be limited to just one episode.

Encounters Can Help One Grow
This was a little journey of learning about podcasting and cultural encounters. We found out that in both matters, skills grow with experience.

Would you like to hear more? You can listen the first episode of the VETOA podcast in Finnish from this link, or read it in English here.

And hey, a new episode of the VETOA podcast (episode 2) is currently being planned and will be recorded in English soon, so stay tuned! The episode will be published on this VETOA project’s blog.

Heidi Nieminen & Hanna Rouvinen
VETOA-TRACTION

In the picture, from the left: Hanna R., Mirjam, Heidi and Hanna T.