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
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:
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Illustrate the current situation, highlighting good policy / practice to enable informed policy choices |
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Inspire a new language focus among decision makers by demonstrating the importance of languages in stable and prosperous societies |
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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.
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Pre-primary and primary education |
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Secondary education |
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Languages in adult education |
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Public services and spaces |
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Business |
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Media |
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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:
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Best practices: Which recommendations are being followed and work well? Which do not and why? |
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Correlations between good practice in one area and success in another area |
Language types to be included are:
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National languages |
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Foreign languages |
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Regional languages |
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Immigrant languages |
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:
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Publications and an interactive website in at least 22 languages |
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Articles and interviews in the media |
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Student network of over 2 million EUNIC language learners |
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New professional network of over 1200 decision makers across sectors |
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22 major national launch events (in 20 countries, 2 regions) |
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At least 66 workshops on improving policies and practices across Europe |
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22 action plans (national/regional/local level) |
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Final paper summarising recommendations |
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The impact of the project can be tracked in subsequent editions |
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