With the support of the Lifelong Learning programme of the European Union



With kind support from our sponsors

links Engage with Language Rich Europe on our blog! www.lima.uni-hamburg.de www.goethe.de

	language rich europe

	Multilingualism for stable and prosperous societies

According to Eurobarometer, 83% of Europeans value knowing other languages yet 44% cannot hold a conversation in another language. With globalisation and increasing migration, multilingualism is critical to intercultural understanding and cohesion in society, job prospects for individuals and competitiveness in Europe.


What Is Language Rich Europe?

Through fresh research, a pioneering new tool – the
Language Rich Europe Index – and a network of partners,
this project seeks to capture the attention of leaders in
government, business and society across Europe to:

• Illustrate the current situation, highlighting good policy / practice to enable informed policy choices
• Inspire a new language focus among decision makers by
  demonstrating the importance of languages in stable and
  prosperous societies
• Motivate more learners / users of many languages

New research: The Language Rich Europe Index will create a
baseline for language education and multilingual services
across countries and industries with clear, comparable and
trackable information.

The Index will cover language policies and practices in:

• Pre-primary and primary education
• Secondary education
• Languages in adult education
• Public services and spaces
• Business
• Media
• As well as national databases on language diversity

Essays: Highlighting specific national contexts will
complement the data collected in each country

Analysis: Using the Index, LRE will determine:

• Best practices: Which recommendations are being
  followed and work well? Which do not and why?
• Correlations between good practice in one area and
  success in another area

Language types to be included are:

• National languages
• Foreign languages
• Regional languages
• Immigrant languages

How Will This Information Be Used?

With our expert partners we will build networks of
professionals from all sectors covered by the Index,
both at a national and international level.

The research and language profiles of each country will be
launched and promoted through:

• Publications and an interactive website in at least 22 languages
• Articles and interviews in the media
• Student network of over 2 million EUNIC language learners
• New professional network of over 1200 decision
  makers across sectors
• 22 major national launch events (in 20 countries, 2 regions)
• At least 66 workshops on improving policies and practices across Europe
• 22 action plans (national/regional/local level)
• Final paper summarising recommendations
• The impact of the project can be tracked in
  subsequent editions