English
A summary of the news for November.
The Partnership for Diversity conference "The challenging relationship between transmission of cultures and transmission of languages" took place on Friday 30 October in Ljouwert/Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. During the conference a resolution has been drafted which has been approved by the Council of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) during its annual meeting of 31 October. The resolution appeals the various European, national and regional authorities to develop and implement language planning according to European standards as laid down in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the protection of national Minorities.
The PfD-conference was jointly organised by the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL), its Dutch member state committee and the Mercator Research Centre. More than 80 persons participated in this conference. Keynote speeches at the conference were presented by Karl-Heinz Lambertz (minister-president of the German speaking community in Belgium), Eduardo Ruiz Vieytez (researcher at the Deuso University in Basque Country), Siv Sandberg (researcher at the Vaasa University in Finland) and Bert Looper of the historic and literature centre Tresoar in Fryslân. Beside these speeches two sessions of in total six workshops were carried out. The Mercator Research Centre aims at presenting the proceedings of the conference in December. In the meanwhile an extensive report can be read at the homepage of EBLUL.
The conference was made possible by organisational and financial support from the Council of Europe, of the province of Fryslân and the municipality of Leeuwarden. In the eve of the conference the Mercator Research Centre supported the Council of Europe by providing the translation into Frisian and Dutch of their brochure on the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages “Giving regional and minority languages a say”.
Download the resolution here.
The Mercator Network on Language Diversity Centres has joined a new civil society platform for the promotion of multilingualism. Its main objective is to promote a permanent dialogue between the European Commission and civil society on the different aspects of the multilingualism policy. The platform held its constitutive meeting in Brussels on 23th of October. Among the members of the platform are representatives from the education and culture sectors and the media and other civil society organisations such as the Club of Madrid and the Yuste Foundation. At the meeting 4 workgroups have been formed: Education, Linguistic Diversity and Social Cohesion, Literary Translation and Terminology, and Language Planning. The Mercator Network became chair of the Education Workgroup.
The Civil Society Platform to promote Multilingualism will be a forum for the exchange of best practices for the media, cultural organisations and those involved in non-formal and informal education. The aim will be to encourage public debate on how best to promote the wider use of different languages. Priority target groups of the platform's work are school dropouts, people in vocational education and training, senior citizens as well as immigrants. The platform will also develop proposals to be examined by national governments as part of their co-operation on multilingualism issues in the fields of education and training.
Business Platform for Multilingualism
On 22 September 2009 the Commission set up a similar thematic forum for businesses. The Business Platform for Multilingualism involves the business community, social partners, trade organisations, chambers of commerce, trade promotion organisations, schools and education authorities.
Background
The importance of languages for social cohesion and overcoming barriers to integration is a theme that is being closely followed by the European Commission. Within the context of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation 2009, the Commission has highlighted how language skills can contribute to foster social and individual wellbeing.
