The Poliglotti4.eu project originated from the work of the Civil Society Platform on Multilingualism, which has been working for more than a year on behalf of the European Commission on the situation of multilingualism in the fields of Education, Linguistic Diversity and Social Cohesion, Translation and Terminology, and Language Policy. The research has led to the development of a set of recommendations for the implementation of a European multilingualism policy, constituting the basis of the Poliglotti4.eu project, to which nine members of the Platform have committed.

The long-term goal of the Poliglotti4.eu project is that multilingualism be systematically considered, and appropriate multilingual policies developed and implemented, at grass-roots level everywhere in Europe. The participation of civil society in the European decision-making process is crucial, and the project focuses on three areas of civil society, which involve a large proportion of the population that is not in formal compulsory education: lifelong learning; pre-school; social/community services for social inclusion.

The multilingual on-line Language Observatory is the principal physical output of the project, and is to become the reference on the practice of multilingualism in Europe. It will persist beyond the two-year project. The Observatory initially presents:

• Information on the key motivators and inhibitors of multilingualism;
• Their implications in the communication and implementation of multilingualism policy;
• Catalogues of multilingualism best practice;
  A catalogue of multilingualism tools, evaluated and assessed according to context;
• Examples of best practice on the implementation of multilingualism policy by local and regional authorities.

Armed with this information, the project partners will be in a better position to advise on the implementation of policy recommendations. They will:

• Implement a programme of communication with local and regional authorities throughout Europe, in order to engage the support of policymakers for multilingualism;
• Advise and assist policymakers in the development and implementation of their multilingualism policies;
• Raise awareness of the value and importance of multilingualism in society as a whole;
• Disseminate best practice through existing national and pan-European networks to local and regional authorities.

The project will guarantee the continuation of the important exchange of ideas, approaches and best practice in the field of multilingualism thus ensuring that the expertise and diverse experience of the project partners and Platform members be brought to best use.

For more information please visit the project website.