Seven perspectives on Bildts

Bildts is a minority language spoken in the Northwestern part of the province of Fryslân in the Netherlands. It has some 6,000 native speakers. Currently, Bildts does not have official recognition as a minority language in the Netherlands, although it receives support from both the province and the local municipality.

Project activities

The municipality Het Bildt, the Netherlands is planned to be merged into a larger municipality in 2018. At the same time, the municipal council of Het Bildt has set elevation of Bildts as one of its policy goals. The Mercator report, which was presented at the town hall of Het Bildt on 2 July 2015, provides a vision for a Bildts language policy to be set out in the preparatory process towards this merger of municipalities. More specifically, it explores chances for and expected consequences of inclusion of Bildts in the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.