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Language activist organizations from across Europe are set to gather in the Basque Country for the ELEN General Assembly, Europe’s main event for NGOs working for the protection and promotion of European minoritized languages.

The European Language Equality Network (ELEN) will be holding its 2024 General Assembly in the vibrant Basque city of Bilbo from 8th to 10th November hosted by the outstanding Basque language NGO and founding member organisation, Kontseilua, and supported by the Basque Government.

The Basque President, Imanol Pradales, is scheduled to open the event accompanied by representatives from the Basque Parliament, European Parliament, Bizkaia Council and the Mayor of Bilbao. All the proceedings will be broadcast live on the Basque TV channel Euskal Telebista (EiTB).

ELEN and Kontseilua will welcome a range of expert speakers to what has become the main annual event in Europe for organisations working for the protection and promotion of European minoritised and endangered languages. This year it will feature a plenary speech from Basque expert Kike Amonarriz on the successful Basque language recovery in the town of Tolosa as well as discussion of the implementation of language “breathing spaces” with Miren Sergurola from UEMA and a presentation of the new Welsh Government Report on empowering communities.

The theme for the 2024 ELEN General Assembly will be, “The importance of public policies in the normalisation of minoritised languages” with former ELEN Vice-President Paul Bilbao Sarria opening a session on the topic with speakers from the Council of Europe, Galicia and Fryslan.

The General Assembly will start on Friday afternoon November 8th at 14.30 with the new “Research and Activism” section featuring the latest relevant language-orientated research from the Basque Country and elsewhere, as well as marking the success with the new COST Action network on Language Plurality in European media, Plurilingmedia. The session is open to ELEN members and invited guests.

The Saturday (November 9th) session focuses on NGO work and features presentations on successful public policies and language recovery in the Basque Country. The afternoon session features a presentation from the EU Commission DG Education and Culture on EU funding for language projects as well as a workshop with Basque MEPs on how to work effectively with the EU institutions.

The meeting will follow up on the summer’s ground-breaking conference in Barcelona on strengthening language rights, and hear about the successful Horizon Europe project application on Fostering Linguistic Capital in Europe (Fosterlang).

Saturday afternoon also features a series of workshops for ELEN members. There will be a workshop with NGOs from Wales, Cornwall and Illes Balears on the impact of over-tourism and 2nd “homes” on our languages. Parallel workshops will feature discussion on next steps from the new working group on strategic litigation as well as a workshop on developing ELEN Youth with a presentation from the new HIGA young language activists project. The session closes with an update on the current situation facing the Diwan Breton immersion schools organisation. Saturday afternoon is also open to invited guests.

Speaking to the media Davyth Hicks, ELEN Secretary-General, said: “Our meeting in the Basque Country could not be more timely for all of our languages. Across Europe, ELEN and its member organisations continue to deal with a range of challenges that undermine our languages. However, in Bilbao we’re looking forward to hearing about how the Basque movement, driven by vibrant civil society organisations, is seeing some success in its language recovery effort. Its an exciting prospect and something that every member organization will be eager to learn from.”

ELEN President, Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, said: “We are delighted to be meeting in the Basque Country for the ELEN General Assembly 2024. We’d like to thank both Kontseilua and the Basque Government for making this possible. This will be one of the biggest ELEN General Assemblies ever in our 12 year history as the leading international NGO for minoritized languages across Europe.

“ELEN members know that the Basque Country offers some excellent practice in language revitalization and normalization, with examples of progressive language policies and strong social movements. We also know of the challenges facing many parts of the Basque Country to increase the use and extend the knowledge of the language across all social spheres, as well as to be granted fundamental legal recognition and language rights.

“On a personal level I have been visiting the Basque Country regularly since 1990, when I first started learning Basque. Although I have never lived there, as a Welsh woman, I have always felt at home there. It is a great honour for me to be President of ELEN on the occasion of the ELEN General Assembly being hosted in the Basque Country.”

Kontseilua Secretary-General, Idurre Eskisabel, said: “All of us in Kontseilua are thrilled to welcome ELEN and its member organisations from across Europe to the Basque Country for what will be the main annual event for those working for European minoritized languages. The meeting is very important for us in terms of our ongoing campaigns as well as bringing international attention to the various challenges we face in our work for the Basque language recovery process.” (Eurolang 2024) Ce communiqué est paru sur ELEN