Higher Education and Research on Multilingualism: Challenge or Opportunity?

Higher Education and Research on Multilingualism: Challenge or Opportunity? Date: Thursday 18 and Friday 19 November 2010. Venue: WTC Leeuwarden. Address: Heliconweg 52, Ljouwert/Leeuwarden (Fryslân), the Netherlands.
The regional role of Universities are growing. ‘Learning regions´ models contribute to a region´s economic development, defining and exploring unique selling points, and serving the needs of its labour market, in an increasingly global and macroregional context. Research explores the interaction between the regional and the global level, can promote innovation and development, and needs to enhance linguistic diversity as of great relevance for society.
Globalisation and reflexive modernity give new contexts to language and education in the polity. In a global economy language education needs change. Reflexive modernity gives new bases for identity, and language is important here. So social scientists should look at language issues in analysing the new social and global context.
Universities need to develop comprehensive language policies to meet the needs of (a) their own students and staff and (b) others involved in exchanges.
Focus themes:
    * The multilingual university: language policy at the level of the institute (visibility within the university, relationship with the linguistic environment, internal and external communication, curriculum).
    * The contribution that universities in general and the EUNoM network in particular can make to the development of the Council of Europe´s and the European Commission´s language policies, especially to the EU´s 8th Framework Programme.
    * The relation between the regional and the global level. What impact do higher education establishments have in engaging in research in order to help to change the self-image, and the perspectives of ‘minority´ language communities?