Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning Alex Riemersma 26 August

2 Outline 1.Mercator team 2.Mercator’s history 3.European perspective 4.Mercator’s current position 5.Research 6.Networking activities 7.Mercator’s ambitions

3 Mercator team

4 Mercator’s history Mercator Education ( ): EU project EU programme and earmarked budget Information and data collection on education in / about regional and minority languages in EU

5 Mercator’s results Data collection Data base of experts Network of Schools Regional Dossier Series

6 Regional Dossiers Series > 40 Update every 5 year Online available

7 European perspective (1) Fryslân not unique in Europe All European countries are multilingual Fryslân is in the heart of Europe

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9 European perspective (2) More than 60 % of EU citizens use more languages in daily life 10 % of European citizens speak a minority language Let us not reinvent the wheel !

10 Mercator’s current position (1) Broadened scope: EU + CoE RMLs + immigrant languages + smaller state languages Research activities Partner in various European Networks

11 Mercator’s current position (2) European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning Spearhead of the Fryske Akademy Bilingual Fryslân Leeuwarden “hotspot of knowledge”

12 Research Creating knowledge: language transmission added value Applying research results: Minimum Standards based on the CEFR Regional Dossiers Series

13 Mercator’s financial position : 80% European Union / 20% Fryske Akademy 2007: Province of Fryslân & Basque Country 2008: Province of Fryslân; Basque Country; City of Leeuwarden & EU

14 Mercator’s finances Province of Fryslân: € City of Leeuwarden: € Basque Country: € European Union (Lifelong Learning): €

15 Networking activities Network of Schools & Teacher Training Institutes Mercator Network Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity EUNoM

16 Mercator Network Lead partner: Fryske Akademy – Mercator Research Centre Aberystwyth – University of Wales Barcelona – Ciemen Budapest – Hungarian Academy of Sciences Eskilstuna – Mälardalen University

17 Foto fan bern Leafst bern yn de klasse

18 Mercator’s ambitions Development of research activities: - creating knowledge; - sharing and disseminating; - application of research results Focus on Fryslân and Europe (EU & CoE) New partners: NPLD & EUNoM, ECML & ECMI

19 Mercator’s ambitions Fryslân: International “knowledge hotspot” Multilingualism & Language Learning Mercator: European Agency on Multilingualism & Language Learning

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