First LINEE Conference “New Challenges for
Multilingualism in Europe” (2010)
The Conference “New
Challenges for Multilingualism in Europe”, held in Dubrovnik,
11-15 April 2010, was organized by LINEE in cooperation with the
Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia, supported
by the European Commission and the Croatian Ministry of Science,
Education and Sports. It was held under the patronage of the
President of the Republic of Croatia and the Secretary General of
the Council of Europe.
The Conference brought together
more than 300 participants from over 35 countries and offered them
opportunities for learning, sharing and networking with colleagues
from all over the world. They included researchers, educators,
community activists, press representatives and others interested in
incorporating new ideas and approaches to multilingualism into their
work and policies. The Conference attracted a number of young
researchers and doctoral students (approximately 70), who
participated by giving oral or poster presentations.
The conference provided a platform
for sharing views, research findings and expertise on a wide variety
of issues inherent in research of multilingualism related to
identity, policy making, education and economy within intersecting
power differentials involved at the local, national and European
level. The Conference was structured into five thematic symposia:
Language, identity and culture; Language policy and planning;
Multilingualism and education; Language and economy; Varia. It
featured 5 plenary sessions, 28 sessions in 5 parallel conference
strands, 5 panel discussions, one poster session and a round table
with EC officials.
The Conference successfully
presented recent progress on a variety of issues related to social,
political, economic and cultural approaches to language and to the
development of strategies to cope with many challenges related to
multilingualism, and to encourage the interaction between scholars
from different theoretical and cultural backgrounds. As such, it
made a considerable contribution towards the building of a common
European platform of research and education in multilingualism.
The Conference was covered by a
number of regional and national media in Croatia (regional daily and
weekly papers, regional radio, national TV, and a number of internet portals).