Objective

All regional or minority languages, irrespective of the number of users or legislation, policy and practice in each state, share varying degrees of vulnerability. While tangible progress has been achieved since the Language Charter entered into force, monitoring by the Committee of Experts shows that regional or minority languages still face common challenges, from decreasing family transmission to their limited use in public life. However, it also demonstrates that thanks to the Language Charter, to the regional or minority language users and to states, concrete results that contribute to safeguarding and promoting the use of these languages can be achieved.

Main objectives: 

• showcase measures and success stories in policy, legislation and practice leading to the revitalisation of regional or minority languages and of their use in private and public life in order to inspire users and authorities on how to strengthen these languages;
• promote the Language Charter and its monitoring mechanism as tools to reinforce regional or minority languages, provide guidance to all the actors involved and encourage states to ratify or extend their instruments of ratification to respond to the need to strengthen regional or minority languages;
• reaffirm the role of the Language Charter in upholding the Council of Europe values and principles, including democracy and cultural diversity. 

 Speakers

The conference will be opened by Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Fatmir Gjeka, Minister for Human and Minority Rights of Montenegro and Aleksandra Oszmianska-Pagett, Chair of the Committee of Experts.

The keynote speaker will be Sophia Smith Galer, journalist, author of “How to kill a language”.

Further speakers include representatives of minority or regional languages speakers who will give practical examples of measures and success stories in policy, legislation, and practice leading to the revitalisation of regional or minority languages and their use in private and public life.