Photo: Luca Chiandoni
Looking back: “It was overwhelming, everything that came our way!”
This article previously appeared in our members’ magazine Ut de Smidte (Summer 2026)
Jelske Dijkstra, project manager at Mercator, and Cor van der Meer, who served as project manager for over 20 years and is now retired, were invited to travel to the northern Italian city of Udine. There, at the SUNS Festival for the performing arts in European minority languages, they were presented with the ALTRE EUROPE Award by Federico Pirone, Udine’s councillor for culture, and Carlo Puppo, chair of the event.
In the speech, three reasons were given as to why Mercator deserved the ALTRE EUROPE Award. These were “for nearly forty years of research activities devoted primarily to the minority languages of our continent; for the quantity, quality and availability of studies on linguistic diversity and on the situation of minority languages in education; and because, through all these activities, Mercator serves as a point of reference for all European minority communities, thereby giving impetus to the promotion of language rights in Europe.”
[Translate to English:]
Celebrations
Jelske Dijkstra is delighted with the award: “I think it’s a huge boost for Mercator.” Cor van der Meer also sees the award as recognition of Mercator’s work. “It shows that our commitment to the lesser-known languages in Europe is also appreciated by other minority groups. As staff members, we can be proud of that!” Back in Leeuwarden, the celebrations were far from over. Dijkstra: “We’ve received so many congratulations by email. And the Province also arranged a big surprise: the whole of the Fryske Akademy was treated to cake! It was overwhelming, everything that came our way.”
Connection
Dijkstra is still impressed by the award ceremony. “What I found so special was that the whole festival was presented in Friulian. Guests were introduced in Friulian, and were also interviewed in Friulian. Anyone who didn’t speak Friulian had been sent the questions in their own language beforehand. So everyone was allowed to answer in English, but these answers were immediately translated into Friulian.”
Dijkstra and Van der Meer did not, however, feel that they were missing out on anything. “Through people’s gestures, and through words that sounded familiar, we were able to grasp a great deal of the essence and the messages of the other guests. In that sense, the language really was a unifying factor.”
That connection with the Friulian-speaking region also emerged in another way. “We came into contact there with a student from the University of Udine. This student, Mirko, was conducting research into theatre in minority languages and was still looking for a good placement to write his master’s thesis. Well, we were able to offer him just that. From February to April, Mirko was here and was able to hold discussions with organisations such as Pier21 and Tryater.”
Dijkstra looks to the future with optimism. “In October, we’ll be wrapping up our Read with MEE project with a major symposium in Leeuwarden.” The Mercator team is also working on developing and securing new projects. “I’m incredibly proud of the team. They’re fantastic colleagues and I’m looking forward to creating great things together.”
