The 33rd meeting of the European Centre for Modern Languages' Governing Board took place at the Centre’s premises in Graz, Austria  on 15-16 October.

The event celebrated 30 years of the ECML - the Centre having been established formally as an Enlarged Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe in 1994. To mark this special occasion, the meeting was opened with a video statement from Martin Polaschek, the Austrian Minister for Education, Science and Research.

The Board meeting, involving representatives from 33 of the ECML’s member states,  addressed a wide range of topics including : the launch and promotion of a new set of resources resulting from projects within the “Inspiring innovation in language education” programme;  the first year of the Centre’s “Language education at the heart of democracy” programme (2024-27);  a new offer of Training and Consultancy activities from 2025; and ongoing  and future cooperation initiatives with the European Commission, among them the think tank scheduled for 4 December ,“Fostering motivation in language education: what role for decision-makers and educators?”, and a forthcoming call for case studies reflecting practice in Regional and Minority Language education from a range of different contexts within ECML and EU member states. There was also time for exchanges on key language educations developments in member states and on how the Centre can further promote plurilingualism within its work.

For the period 2025-26, the ECML Governing Board elected Pille Põiklik (Estonia) as Chair of the Governing Board, Eyjólfur Már Sigurðsson (Iceland) as Vice-Chair and Lourdes Ballesteros-Martin (Spain) as Bureau member. The Board members thanked Claire Extramiana (France), who has acted as Chair since 2021, and Bronka Straus (Slovenia), who has served on the Bureau since 2017, for their dedication and ongoing commitment to the work of the ECML.

The Board meeting was immediately followed by a workshop for the National Nominating Authorities and National Contact Points of the ECML.   

Some light entertainment was also provided in the form of a photo box which  proved a popular way of commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Centre!