On 9 March 2023, Fryske Akademy/Mercator researchers Hans Van de Velde and Charlie Robinson-Jones visited the University of Messina (Sicily, Italy) to participate in a symposium on Le lingue di minoranza: tutela giuridica, vitalità e identità (Minority Languages: Legal Protection, Vitality and Identity), which was organised by the Department of Law and Department of Ancient and Modern Civilizations (DICAM).

Throughout the day, both linguistic aspects (chaired by Prof Alessandro De Angelis, professor of glottology and linguistics at DICAM) and legal aspects (chaired by Prof Antonio Saitta, professor of constitutional law) were discussed.

Members of the COLING (Minority Languages, Major Opportunities) project consortium presented on the topic of language revitalisation, the project's main area of research, especially with reference to the languages and cultures of the Frisians (presented by Van de Velde – Frisian: from linguistic rights to a matter of course?) and the Greeks of Calabria (presented by collaborators from the GAL Area Grecanica and the Università di Napoli "L'Orientale").