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The average salaries of teachers have grown faster than the average salaries overall in Estonia; if the current trend continues, these would reach 120% of the national average in 2024. However, higher salaries often include overtime or extra work, which means that Estonian teachers are overburdened, shows the Foresight Centre report “Teachers’ salaries”.

The Ukrainian war refugees potentially settling in Estonia will somewhat delay the decrease of the population in Estonia, but the immigration will have a shorter-term impact compared to the earlier projection, is revealed by the report “Ukrainian War Refugees in Estonia – Population and Integration” by the Foresight Centre, published today.

According to the report “Ukrainian Children in the Estonian Education System”, published by the Foresight Centre, the Estonian schools and kindergartens are generally managing well the extra workload that came with the Ukrainian refugee pupils, but the shortage of teachers and support specialists is putting schools in a very unequal position when it comes to Ukrainian children.

The average environmental footprint of an Estonian transgresses the planetary boundary by 3.8 times, while that of an European is 2.9 times larger than the planetary boundary. According to the report “The Average Environmental Footprint of Estonians and Europeans”, recently published by the Foresight Centre, Estonians have a larger environmental footprint with regard to electricity, heating, food and appliances, while their environmental footprint of mobility is smaller than that of Europeans.

Transition to Estonian as the language of instruction and the influx of Ukrainian refugees are set to exacerbate the problem of finding new teachers across Estonia. This is set out as the initial task of the new research into “The Future for the Next Generation of Teachers” of the Foresight Centre. The new research explores the factors that affect new teachers entering the profession, and its goal is to outline the future trends until 2040.

When considering future competitiveness, Estonia stands out among other countries by the digitalisation of our public sector and data usage, as well as excellent education. However, the regenerative capacity of Estonia’s economy is only average, and we will be challenged to make the welfare state work in an ageing society, shows the Foresight Centre report “Future Factors of National Competitiveness”, which was published today.

Greenhouse gas emissions in Estonia have dropped 40% over the last ten years, but with the European energy crisis and the renewed competitiveness of oil shale, emissions have been on an upward trend again since 2021. At the same time, we are seeing a strong reduction in emission volumes in Estonia’s processing industry, says the Foresight Centre report “Trends of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Estonia and the European Union”, which was published today.