European Language Gazette

Motivation represents a fundamental component of success and well-being in any area of life – driving action, enhancing performance, promoting learning and development, and contributing to overall satisfaction and resilience. This think tank will focus on the particular significance of motivation in relation to the world of language education.

The think tank will take account of the findings of the 2023 edition of the Eurydice report for the European Union – “Key data on teaching languages at school in Europe” and of policy initiatives at European level such as the Council of Europe’s 2022 Recommendation on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture and the Council of the European Union’s 2019 Recommendation on a comprehensive approach to the teaching and learning of languages.

The event will not only attempt to identify the challenges for national education systems in promoting the learning of languages other than/in addition to English but will give careful consideration to how these might be overcome.

The think tank will involve a combination of keynote speeches, short presentations from policy, practice and research perspectives, as well as group work and a panel discussion (see programme). All plenary sessions (from 09:00-12:30) and (16:00-17:30) will be live-streamed.

The event will serve as a starting point for the creation of a Motivation manifesto and for gathering inspiring examples from policy and practice which are potentially transferable/adaptable to other countries and contexts.

Languages: English and French

Website: www.ecml.at/motivation

No registration necessary – take part at the following address: https://youtube.com/live/WRlQBorWWoE

• Are you enthusiastic about integrating ICT in language teaching in order to enhance student engagement and learning? 
• Would you like guidance on how to select appropriate online tools and how to design pedagogically sound learning activities using these, without spending too much time?
• Do you think that teachers’ professional development is more effective if they share their experiences and work together? 

If the answer to these questions is yes, then this webinar should be of interest to you.

The webinar will showcase the work of the ICT-REV project, an initiative of the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) and the European Commission, which has, to date, offered over 60 training workshops to language educators throughout Europe and beyond.

The challenges and opportunities provided by the use of ICT and digital learning will be highlighted during the webinar. Participants will have the chance to learn about the ICT-REV workshops and the hands-on activities carried out before, during and after each event, which aim to develop the competences and confidence of language teachers.

We will also present the ICT-REV Inventory of ICT tools and open educational resources, developed as part of the ICT-REV project. The Inventory contains over 200 freely available online tools, including applications that use AI, which support language teaching and learning. It is a resource developed from teachers’ suggestions and evaluated by ICT-REV team members. Webinar participants will have the opportunity to explore the Inventory and to consider the usefulness of specific applications and technology-enhanced learning activities.

The webinar will incorporate the use of tools and activities that teachers might choose to use afterwards with their students. It will be interactive, participatory and multilingual, which are pedagogical principles that are highlighted throughout all ICT-REV activities.

Languages: English, French and German

Website: https://ict-rev.ecml.at/

Registration: sign up for the webinar

The 9 projects within the Inspiring innovation in language education  programme 2020-2023 have developed a wide range of new resources and interactive tools to support professionals implement quality language education. Based on themes that were identified as priorities by the ECML member states, they cover the role of observation, assessment and documentation in early language learning and for newly arrived migrant children, language education in support of digital citizenship and cross-linguistic mediation, teacher competences to implement the CEFR Companion Volume, pluralistic approaches and language-sensitive education, CLIL in languages other than English and neighbouring languages in cross-border vocational training.

Each new resource is offering a series of practical web-based materials. They come in a variety of formats, such as: a teaching guide on what mediation entails, how it can be taught and types of mediation tasks; a set of resources for assessing the home language competences of migrant pupils; profiles of teacher competences related to language-sensitive education. Many of the dedicated websites include sample teaching materials, such as the CEFR Companion Volume Implementation Toolkit and in the case of Digital citizenship through language education, a database of practical learning activities.

The outputs of the projects build upon the rich body of work of the Council of Europe in language education and have involved practitioners from all the member states of the ECML, who have been able to contribute to their development and/or have piloted the results in their different countries. As such, they are all developed taking contexts in several countries into account.

Over the coming weeks, we will invite you as language teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers, decision-makers, researchers to discover these new instruments and make use of them in your contexts.

Output flyer: English – French

This year’s European Day of Languages was organised under the motto of “Languages for peace”, highlighting how linguistic diversity and language education can play a key role in promoting a culture of peace, living together and democracy.

With Lithuania holding the presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėdos, issued a statement on the occasion of the European Day of Languages. He highlighted the importance of the Day as a  “…celebration of democracy, freedom and solidarity” and the need for the “…respect of all languages, even the smallest ones..” to demonstrate European unity. These values were very much in evidence among the huge number of events taking place in celebration of the Day – many celebrated under the banner of Languages for peace. Some 1 400 events were registered in the EDL events calendar and around 850 000 visits on 26 September alone to the EDL website – setting a new record!

A series of new/updated resources and games helped to mark the 2024 EDL, such as:

• Lara’s journey through Europe’s Regional and Minority languages
  Developed as a follow-up to “Lara's language journey across Europe” (which is currently available in 28 language versions), Lara takes on a new challenge and journey – this time to explore the world of regional and minority languages, many of which may be unfamiliar to readers. The new brochure puts a spotlight on the diversity of the European linguistic landscape, presenting a selection of 39 regional and minority languages.
  https://edl.ecml.at/languagejourney
• ‘Linguine’ – the language board game – with a different flavour!
  With the world becoming increasingly dominated by technology, we took a step in the other direction and reverted to a more traditional format – the board game. The brand new “Linguine” board game is conceived to be played in an offline format. A pilot version was launched just in time for this year’s EDL (with a template to download and print out). We would greatly welcome feedback on the game over the next months to help it mature into an even tastier dish in the years to come!
  https://edl.ecml.at/edlboardgame

In addition to the resources, a series of competitions, polls and initiatives were organised.

• There was a record-breaking response to this year’s poster competition based on the motto of the 2024 Day “Languages for peace”. A staggering total of 6 000 designs were submitted. The competition encouraged the use of symbols, quotes and artwork to convey messages of unity and understanding across different languages and actively contribute to the use of languages as a vehicle for reaching across linguistic and cultural divides. Prizes will be awarded for the top 5 but, in fact, all of the fantastically creative entries would merit a prize! 30 posters will also be exhibited around the ECML premises in Graz. The posters can be viewed here: https://edl.ecml.at/languagesforpeace
• There was also an impressive response to the 'most difficult letter/word/phrase to pronounce' initiative: where participants were invited to produce a short video demonstrating why and just how difficult their chosen piece of oral dexterity actually is! With over 200, very well conceived videos, submitted, a selection has been compiled  of just some of the best (coming soon):
  https://edl.ecml.at/beautyoflanguages
• The Long live the European Day of Languages / Vive la Journée européenne des langues event, organised by the Lycée Alfred Mézières de Longwy, France, received around 1 900 votes in this year’s ‘Most innovative event’ competition. The initiative involved the creation of a language wall. In one of two projects organised, the entire school was able to take part with everyone invited to write a proverb, a motto or a word in another language on the wall that had a particular meaning for them. Congratulations to the 2024 winners!
• According to the thousands of respondents to the ‘What is the best advice you can give someone starting to learn a language?’ poll, ‘complete immersion’ was the most popular tip offered – using all opportunities at your disposal to become proficient, followed closely by ‘stay motivated’ and ‘engage with native speakers’. A little surprisingly, use of technology, efficiency, good techniques and organisation were less prominent:
  https://edl.ecml.at/poll
• The 2025 EDL t-shirt design competition is open until 31 December 2024, so there is still some time to come up with ideas:
  https://edl.ecml.at/tshirt

As ever, a big thank you to the EDL National Relays for their enormous commitment in promoting the Day and sending out materials to schools and event organisers in their countries. We are also most grateful to everyone who took part in the Day this year and contributed to making it an occasion to remember. As there are only 10 months to come up with yet more ambitious and creative events and initiatives for next year’s EDL - maybe it is time to get started!

To mark the 30 years of the ECML, the meeting was opened with a video statement from Martin Polaschek, the Austrian Minister for Education, Science and Research. The Board meeting 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; ongoing  and future cooperation initiatives with the European Commission; key language education developments in member states; and 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, Chair since 2021) and Bronka Straus (Slovenia, Bureau member since 2017) for their dedication and ongoing commitment to the work of the ECML.

Full news item: English – French

Web section dedicated to the ECML Governing Board members: English – French

The workshop gathered 50 National Nominating Authorities and National Contact Points from 33 member states of the ECML. The event provided them with a networking opportunity and a chance to exchange experiences on the roles of National Nominating Authority and National Contact Point, to familiarise themselves with the new resources resulting from the 2020-2023 ECML programme and to share ideas and good practice in their dissemination and use in the national contexts; to discuss ways of boosting participation and engagement of the language expert community in ECML activities;  to get informed about the survey planned for the evaluation of the ECML programme 2020-2023; and to get an overview of the Centre's new programme 2024-2027, including the new call for Training and consultancy activities in 2025.

Full news item: English – French

Web section dedicated to the ECML member states: English – French

Pluriwell has entered a new phase of farther-reaching and more decentralized work on plurilingual wellbeing. Teachers in schools around Europe are continuing to collaborate to advance the aims of this ECML project. Teams in 10 different European countries are already coming together to create new tools to foster plurilingual wellbeing in their respective contexts.
Many of the teachers participating in these local working groups attended the Pluriwell network meeting in October 2024. Local groups of teachers are following the phases set out in the Pathway to develop plurilingual wellbeing orienting tools, a guide that was created by the project partners and shared with the rest of the network in Graz. In an upcoming online meeting in December, the teachers will share their tools with the rest of the Pluriwell network.

Full news item: English – French

ECML project website “Pluriwell – Fostering the plurilingual wellbeing of language teachers” (2024-26) (English-French): www.ecml.at/pluriwell

On 17-18 September, the ECML hosted the first meeting of the project “Pluriliteracies for global citizenship: Deeper learning in the foreign language classroom” (2024-2027). Twenty participants from 16 countries, including teachers and university professionals, gathered to explore key concepts and strategies to enhance global citizenship through pluriliteracies. The agenda focused on the project overview, its main goals, and the 4R model for rethinking language education, highlighting multimodality, diverse perspectives, and multi-source reading. The event concluded with key messages for educators and the formation of a professional community for ongoing collaboration.

Full news item: English – French

Project website: English – French

As part of the ARPIDE project's dissemination efforts, the project coordinator, Kenia Puig i Planella, and Miranda Karjagdi Çolak, project team member, presented a workshop at the Eaquals Online Conference (11-12 October 2024). The workshop focused on supporting quality practices in language education by promoting plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture, aligned with the Council of Europe's Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)1.

Full news item: English – French – German

Project website “Using ECML resources to support plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture” (2024-2026): English – French – German

The project’s overall aim is to create CLIL teaching materials for different language and subject combinations that help secondary school learners develop 21st-century competences. After one year, the project team has composed a first draft of a teacher’s guide and teaching materials for each one of the United Nations' 16 sustainable development goals. The teacher’s guide aims to clarify what competences they need to be able to promote 21st-century competences among CLIL learners, to explain the pedagogical principles underlying the developed teaching materials, and to offer a set of guidelines so that teachers can create their own teaching materials. The teacher’s guide and teaching materials will be shared  with a group of teachers, pedagogical advisors and teacher educators at the ECML workshop scheduled in September 2025.

Full news item: English – German – French

Video by Lies Sercu, project coordinator, on the project: English

Project website: English – German

The European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe together with the European Commission are launching a new round of workshops within the joint action on Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning focusing on the following initiatives:

• RELANG – Relating language curricula, tests and examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference
• Supporting Multilingual Classrooms
• ICT-REV – Using ICT in support of language teaching and learning

The activities are scheduled to take place between end of February and mid-December 2025, the three initiatives offering up to 18 national workshops during this period.

The call is open to current European Union member states and the additional member states of the ECML until 10 January 2025.

For further information, please contact Adelina Rosca (adelina.rosca@ecml.at), the ECML-EU cooperation agreement coordinator.

The Secondary Education Directorate of Evros, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports and the European Centre for Modern Languages, organised a two-day training workshop in Alexandroupolis on 17-18 October 2024. The workshop, attended by 32 foreign language teachers, teachers of the language of schooling, principals of school units, school advisers and regional education quality supervisor, aimed to improve language teaching, develop multilingual and intercultural skills, address student diversity, and create collaborative networks.
The event also involved representatives from religious, military, and political spheres, including the Deputy Minister of Education and the Head of the General Directorate for International and European Affairs, Education for Hellenic Diaspora and Intercultural Education.

Full news item: English – French

TV broadcast on Greek local news (with subtitles in English)

More information about the training and consultancy offer “Supporting multilingual classrooms" : dedicated website in English  and French

National training workshop in Belgium (16-17 October 2024, Brussels)

37 language testers and examiners, item writers, teachers and teacher trainers, curriculum developers were introduced to the principles of valid and reliable language testing based on the CEFR. They learned about the construction of different item types, the stages of test development and test-taking, the collection and analysis of test data and also about ways to link tests and exams to the CEFR levels CEFR.

Full news item: English – French

National training workshop in Cyprus (2-4 October 2024, Nicosia)

The workshop brought together 27 teachers and teacher trainers, language testers and examiners, item writers, curriculum developers, language inspectors and policy makers. The event aimed to promote continuous assessment practices in line with the CEFR standards and explore ways to assess linguistic, communicative, plurilingual, and pluricultural skills, which involve reception, production, interaction, and mediation.

Full news item: English – French

National training workshop in Estonia (23-25 September 2024, Tallinn)

The three-day workshop was valuable for 23 language testers and examiners, item writers, teachers and teacher trainers, curriculum developers, language inspectors, and policymakers. It focused on CEFR descriptors, item construction, assessment, and rating scales, providing practical tips as well as examples, and useful materials for the local context.

Full news item: English – French

More information on the training and consultancy offer “Relating language curricula, tests and examinations to the CEFR (RELANG)”: dedicated website in English – French

National training workshop in Montenegro (Bar, 18-19 October 2024)

Twenty-one teachers of English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian (some also teacher trainers and curriculum authors) in primary and secondary schools from across the country learned about various online tools, such as Padlet, Moodle, Clasroomscreen, Mentimeter, Clickchamp, Audacity, Makebelief, Genially, and Pixabey, shared their experiences and collaborated to create new teaching activities.

Full news item: Montenegrin – English – French

National training workshop in Portugal (Lisbon, 10-11 October 2024)

In this initiative, which is of great importance for the national context of primary and secondary education, professionals involved in language teaching had the opportunity to deepen their scientific and technological literacy in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The teachers replicate their knowledge in the short term, contributing to the promotion of innovative pedagogical practices, which will provide more dynamic and varied first language/second language/foreign language classes.

Full news item: Portuguese – English – French

National training workshop in Greece (Corfu, 26-27 September 2024)

The workshop took place for the first time in Corfu, with 28 education consultants, school principals and teachers of foreign languages. The event contributed to the development of digital skills and literacy. The results captured through an online questionnaire demonstrated the impact of the specific approach and the need for leveraging already existing ECML tools and resources. The participants are already preparing actions to disseminate the workshop, thus promoting the exchange of opinions and good practices in their immediate and wider professional environment.

Full news item: Greek – English – French

National training workshop in Czechia (Prague, 30-31 July 2024)

The workshop was attended by Czech language teachers from 17 different Czech (heritage) schools around the world, language teachers from Czechia and academic language educators. The opportunity to get a comprehensive overview and a possibility to try ICT tools directly in concrete situations, to share knowledge and practices, and to interact with other professionals was highly appreciated.

Full news item: Czech – English – French

More information on the training and consultancy offer “Using ICT in support of language teaching and learning (ICT-REV)”: dedicated website in English and French

Mímir, a lifelong learning centre in Reykjavík, hosted a training and consultancy event on work-related L2-Icelandic teaching for 22 teachers and project managers (29-30 August 2024). The workshop provided new insights and ideas regarding the design and planning of more effective L2-courses at the workplace, as well as fresh perspectives and methods for the development of course curricula, lesson structures, and course materials; featured inputs from Language for Work partners across Europe; and offered a clearer vision of effective language teaching for the labour market to the participants. 

Read the full news item to find out more about the impact of this workshop and why a Language for Work TaC activity is relevant for Iceland.

ECML training and consultancy "Approach to teaching for deeper CLIL and beyond – A pluriliteracies learning": hybrid workshop (Podgorica, Montenegro, 11-12 October 2024)

Twenty-one teachers of all subjects in elementary and secondary schools that are implementing bilingual education programmes and an advisor from the Bureau for Education Services had an opportunity for  training on the basics of integrated learning of content and language (CLIL) and deeper learning episodes which support the transfer of learning across language and subject, based on the pluriliteracies model.

Full news item: Montenegrin – English – French

The Académie de Montpellier and the ECML seminar on the development of CLIL / non-language subject pathways (Montpellier, France, 9-10 October 2024)

The seminar brought together 50 staff members (management staff and inspectors at primary and secondary level education), pedagogical advisers and teacher trainers. It aimed to explore the benefits of CLIL / non-language subject practices (integrating modern foreign and regional languages into subject areas) in relation to the 4 pillars of the Montpellier Academy project: develop students' intercultural skills and strengthen their identity as European citizens; teachers' consideration of the linguistic dimension in each subject contributes to strengthening students' transversal skills and language proficiency; through the development of CLIL/non-language subject pathways, European links are established, and an international dimension can be brought to school/ business partnerships; develop teachers' international skills in all disciplines within their own master’s programmes, contributing to their personal growth and mobility. In addition to theoretical contributions, the academy’s staff and trainers engaged in a series of immersive activities in English and Swiss German.

Full news item: English – French

More information on the ECML training and consultancy offer “CLIL and beyond: pluriliteracies for deeper learning”: dedicated website in English and French

“Language of schooling: Developing language awareness in subject classes”: ECML Training and Consultancy workshop in the Świętokrzyskie Region (5 and 19 October 2024, Kielce / online, Poland)

The workshop brought together 23 primary and secondary school teachers involved in bilingual education, teacher trainers involved in bilingual education in the Świętokrzyskie Region. The training focused on language and subject integration and language scaffolding techniques, the importance of cooperation between the subject teachers and language teachers and ways of organising such cooperation at school level. Materials produced during the event can be used for developing bilingual lesson plans in the future.

Full news item: Polish - English ‐ French

The Professional Network Forum of the ECML is comprised of international associations and institutions that share common values and have overlapping expertise in the field of language education and assessment. Under the auspices of the ECML, the members of the Forum share their know-how and work together on areas of common interest in the service of language education.

Members of the Forum: ACTFL, AILA, ALTE, CEL/ELC, CercleS, EALTA, EAQUALS, ECSPM, ECML/Council of Europe, EDiLiC, EFNIL, EPA, EUNIC, FIPLV, IAM, ICC, OLBI.

Upcoming events of the network members

Dedicated ECML web pages

OLBI's 2023-2024 Annual Report highlights the many achievements, the ongoing commitment to promoting bilingualism at the University of Ottawa and across Canada and the long-standing institutional collaboration  with the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) of the Council of Europe:

"OLBI and the CCERBAL Research Centre continued their long-standing cooperation with the ECML. In December 2023, OLBI Director Elena Valenzuela and CCERBAL Director Nikolay Slavkov participated in the ECML’s 2023 Conference and Professional Network Forum, where the new ECML four-year cycle of projects was announced and a consultation regarding the participation of Canada-nominated experts as associate partners in European projects was initiated. This process is expected to be complete in early 2025." (Page 21)

The Eaquals Annual International Conference provides an opportunity to exchange expertise and examples of best practice with an audience of language education professionals from over 40 countries. Members and non-members of Eaquals will attend, and delegates will include academic managers, language teachers and business directors along with specialists from international education organisations. The 2025 conference programme will be organised under the following themes: Best practice in language teaching and learning; Course design, CEFR & assessment; Leadership & Management; CPD; Developments in language education.

Conference web pages

At policy level, Austria has introduced key aspects of the recent 2022 Recommendation of the Council of Europe to the Österreichisches Sprachenkomitee, a national language committee that brings together not only education experts but also representatives from various sectors of society who are concerned with the role of languages, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Labour, social service organisations, parent associations, language associations, ministries, regional school boards, and many others.

Regarding the practical application of the ECML outcomes, the results of the 6th medium-term programme were reviewed and six projects that align closely with Austria’s current educational policy priorities were highlighted in a brochure. This brochure is being distributed within the educational community, with the aim of encouraging more experts to explore the project outcomes and consider integrating them into their work.

Finally, at this year’s conference of the Austrian Association for Language Didactics (ÖGSD), the Austrian Language Competence Centre (ÖSZ) was invited to present the current initiatives of the ECML, how the ECML operates at both policy and practical levels and the benefits for Austrian teachers and experts. It also urged them to engage more actively in disseminating and utilizing the wealth of resources and opportunities provided by the ECML.

Cyprus is implementing initiatives to promote plurilingualism and pluriculturalism. To enhance English language skills in public schools, the country is preparing first-year Lyceum students for Cambridge Assessment's B1 Preliminary for Schools (PET) and IGCSE (B2) exams in 2025. The accreditation process for English language teaching to the B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) has been acknowledged, teacher training workshops are currently being conducted in this field, and the level of English proficiency is now indicated on school leaving certificates.

Furthermore, exams have been accredited as B2 level. Free German language classes are now available after regular school hours. French language certification at A1, A2, B1 levels is required for students to access broader career opportunities. And English instruction begins at the pre-primary level.

• Read the full article written by Maria Iacovidou, Secondary school inspector, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth of Cyprus
• ECML web pages dedicated to Cyprus (official contacts, experts involved in past or current ECML activities, national resources)

The bibliography L’intelligence artificielle dans l’enseignement des langues étrangères (until 31 October 2024) has been compiled around the question ‘Does artificial intelligence in language teaching represent progress or a threat?’. It provides a comprehensive overview of recent resources on the integration of AI into language teaching and learning.

Language and Languages in the Primary School – Some guidelines for teachers, Revised version
by David Little and Déirdre Kirwan

The guidelines are designed for primary school principals and teachers in Ireland to help them addresss the challenges of the Primary Language Curriculum, include the home languages of EAL pupils into classroom activities, foster intercultural learning, promote positive attitudes and appreciation of cultural diversity in the classroom and beyond, as well as foster an interest in learning further languages. The first part of the guidelines provides a rationale for doing this, and in the second part offers practical suggestions for including Irish and home languages in everyday classroom communication.

“Zur Bedeutung von plurilingualer und interkultureller Bildung für die demokratische Kultur
Beitrag zum 7. DaZ-Expert:innen-Forum Schweiz – Mehr als Sprache: Zur Bedeutung von Sprachbildung für Demokratie”

The DaZ-Expert:innen-Forum Switzerland provides an institutional platform for the exchange of expertise and experiences in the field of German as a foreign language in German-speaking Switzerland. The event brought together experts and decision makers in adult education institutions in the field of migration and integration with a focus on German as a second language in German-speaking Switzerland.
Susanna Slivensky, Deputy Director and Head of Programmes of the ECML, highlighted the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture, referring to the Recommendation of the Council of Europe (2022) and outlined current measures for its implementation.

Powerpoint presentation by Susanna Slivensky at ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften

Video recording of Susanna Slivensky's presentation

Web page dedicated to the event

A framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures – Competences and resources
Now also available in Serbian: Референтни оквир за плуралистичке приступе језицима и културама - Kомпетенције и ресурси

All language versions: Arabic, English, French, Italian, Polish, Serbian, Slovene, Spanish

FREPA website: English, French, German

Luxembourg took over from Lithuania the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for the next six months. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis, took stock of Lithuania’s Presidency and handed over to Xavier Bettel, Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Luxembourg, who presented the priorities of his country’s Presidency.

Full news item

“We are here to celebrate the central role of the French language as a driving force for democracy, human rights and multilateralism,” said Secretary General Alain Berset during his speech at the 19th Francophonie Summit on Creating, innovating and doing business in French, held in Villers-Cotterêts and Paris.
The Summit brought together the 88 member countries of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF). The joint co-operation programme agreed between the Council of Europe and the OIF pursues two major aims: promoting human rights and the rule of law and raising awareness among OIF member states of the need to ratify international and regional instruments.

Secretary General interview (time code:  4h11 – 4h20)

Full news item: English – French – German – Italian – Russian – Spanish

The project is co-funded by the European Union and Council of Europe and is implemented by the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Turkish Ministry of National Education. It is a transformative project aimed at enhancing the quality of foreign language education across Türkiye. This initiative seeks to align foreign language education within the country with international standards, focusing on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the CEFR Companion Volume (2020). Over a five-year period (60 months), the project will develop and implement resources and training programs, and elaborate policy recommendations to empower both educators and learners.

In this context, The Council of Europe is looking for a maximum of total number of 50 providers for national consultancy and 60 providers for international consultancy, only as natural persons, to support the implementation of the project with a particular expertise on research, advice, co-ordination and facilitation in relation to the policy recommendations, material development, and capacity building.

The deadline for the submission of tenders is 10 December 2024 by 18:00 GMT+3.

Full news item

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is the European convention for the protection and promotion of languages used by traditional minorities. Together with the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities it constitutes the Council of Europe’s commitment to the protection of national minorities.

On 28-29 November 2024, the secretariat participated in the 17th session of the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues in Geneva. The topic of this year’s Forum was “Minority representation and self-representation in public spaces and discourses”.
Dedicated website and video recordings

Recent reports

• Finland: 6th evaluation report
• Germany: Evaluation by the Committee of Experts of the Implementation of the Recommendations for Immediate Action 
• Netherlands: ECRML protection extended to the Papiamento/u language in the European part of the Kingdom
• Spain: 6th evaluation report
• United Kingdom and the Isle of Man: 6th evaluation report

New Charter resources

• Charter brochure released in 2023, presenting the treaty itself, the work of its Committee and the monitoring process in a nutshell: latest language versions: Hungarian, Romani, Spanish, Ukrainian (also available in English, French, German and Italian)
• Video presenting the Charter’s contribution to the protection of regional or minority languages: now subtitled in German, Hungarian, Romanian and Spanish
• 4th edition of the Language Charter’s collected texts: this edition contains the Charter text and its explanatory report, the relevant decisions of the Committee of Ministers and the Rules of Procedure of the Committee of Experts: English and French

Resolutions on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Denmark

Developments on the implementation of the FCNM

• Azerbaijan: 5th Advisory Committee Opinion
• Bulgaria: 5th Advisory Committee Opinion
• Montenegro: 4th Advisory Committee Opinion

Recent publications:

• Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: 14th activity report covering the period from 1 June 2022 to 31 May 2024: English – French
• Enhancing minority rights through inclusive education: new practical guide

Follow the newsroom of the FCPNM

Our rights, our future: Annual report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe 2024: English – French

History of the Council of Europe - 75 years of European co-operation: ;English – French

Map of the Council of Europe 46 member states: English – French
The European Convention on Human Rights in practice – Teaching resources 2024 edition: English – French
Europe matters - A question of values: English – French (available in 6 languages)
Travel the European universe: English – French (available in 5 languages)

Council of Europe Framework Convention on artificial intelligence and human rights, democracy, and the rule of law: English – French | Explanatory report of the Convention: English – French

The International Symposium “Linguistic Frontiers, Cultural Frontiers – Recent Explorations of Multidimensional Interactions” was organised by the Saar Language Council in partnership with the Saarland University of Applied Sciences. The symposium brought together around 120 scholars and other professionals from Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia, to examine the intricate connections between language and culture. The topics ranged from the dynamics of linguistic diversity in border regions to the effects of language policy on cultural identities and the challenges of multilingualism in a globalized world. In order to improve transnational academic and cultural ties, the symposium emphasized in particular the Saarland's dedication to fostering Franco-German collaboration in the fields of linguistics and cultural studies as part of the France Strategy.

• Key themes and findings
• Dedicated website (available in French and German)
• Livestream (recorded) of the symposium (in French), including a video greeting from Prof. Dr. Albert Raasch, founder of the Saarland Language Council (from 23’08 to 29’42)

The structure of European education systems - 2024/2025
This website is dedicated to showing the structure of education and training systems from pre-primary to tertiary level in the current school/academic year (2024/2025). It covers 39 education systems across 37 countries (members of the Eurydice Network).

In September 2024, the European School Education Platform explored language learning in Europe, looking at new teaching methods and tools to support students.
News item, 16 October 2024

The European Toolkit for Schools aims to promote school success, inclusive education, and well-being at school by supporting exchange and experience among school practitioners and policy makers. As part of its activities, two webinars took place in June 2024. 
Promoting wellbeing for improved learning outcomes was the topic of the first webinar. This webinar examined how schools can incorporate wellbeing strategies to improve academic achievement based on the most recent PISA data. The New guidelines to support wellbeing in schools were introduced. They offer 11 recommendations on wellbeing and mental health at school for education policymakers, school leaders, teachers and educators.
The second webinar on Wellbeing without overload: Integrating self-care in teaching practices provided practical strategies that can be implemented to integrate well-being into teachers daily routines.

The Organisation now has a Strategic Framework on Multilingualism. By incorporating language considerations into all facets of the Secretariat's operations, the UN Strategic Framework on Multilingualism reaffirms the Organisation's commitment to multilingualism.
News item

Bring the festive season to your languages classroom with these Christmas resources from around the world.
Check out SCILT's collection of resources for British Sign Language, Chinese, French, Gaelic, German, Italian, Polish, Scots, Spanish and Urdu on this dedicated website.

Mercator Network Newsletter

No. 208: November 2024
No. 207: October 2024
No. 206: September 2024