CELAN Project

"Lexicograffiti" at the European Parliament

2012-03-01T18:15:00.002+01:00

The Terminology Coordination Unit of the European Parliament organised The Lexicograffiti Seminar, the 4th seminar of the cycle Terminology in the Changing World of Translation, aimed to expand translators’ knowledge in the field of terminology and other related domains essential to their profession. Among the speaker was Prof. Gerhard Budin, partner in the CELAN project.
Visit the TermCoord website for links to terminology data bases, terminology networks worldwide and EU bodies dealing with translation.

Executive Training Programme in Japan and Korea

2012-02-21T16:33:00.001+01:00

The European Commission supports European company executives who want to get immersed into the business culture of Japan and Korea. 45 weeks in the country, of which 12 actively in a Japanese or Korean company. The course includes cultural, economic, historic and linguistic aspects and is open to all sectors. More information can be found at www.euetp.eu.
Deadline for the next submission of applications is 31 May 2012.
You may be also interested in the EU Gateway programme in which the European Commission funds business missions to Japan and Korea.

Round Table and Business Platform Report

2012-02-02T11:18:00.003+01:00

Despite of the strike emptying the streets of Brussels that Monday, 30 January 2012, the CELAN Round Table attracted 35+ high level stakeholders in the Language for Business arena. During the first part, Wolfgang Mackiewicz, CELAN coordinator, gave a short introduction after which the Steering Committee members presented the activities carried out so far. Here are the presentations for downloading:
CELAN Overview - Margaretha Mazura, EMF
Language needs for European Businesses - Gustavo Gonzalez-Qujano, COTANCE
Language Industry Stock Taking - Christian Galinksi, INFOTERM
CELAN platform and tools - Mike Hammersley, FAV

Chaired by Professor Stephen Hagen, an expert panel consisting of representatives from industry and the learning environment reflected on CELAN results and discussed the best way to raise awareness about the importance of multilingualism to businesses. Some of the key outcome were: Sensibilise the young for languages; give real-life use cases as examples, ideally around a successful (language) business model; raise awareness of opportunities in a global world; and finally, the confirmed fact that "not one size fits all".

The Business Platform for Multilingualism meeting the following morning enlarged the audience while contributing to the findings of the Round Table. The meeting was kick-started by Belén Bernaldo de Quirós, Head of Unit for Multilingual Policy at DG EAC. She gave an overview of the political landscape of multilingualism at EU level, emphasising the most recent Council Conclusions on Mobility that gave a clear mandate to the EC to support initiatives like the Business Platform. [Presentation of B. Bernaldo]
Kristina Cunningham, Deputy Head of Unit, gave an overview on "Languages for competitiveness and employability", while Peter Birch, Head of Sector, EACEA, pointed out the synergies with other LLP projects in his presentation "Languages for business - the LLP experience". The presentations were followed by interactive "World Café" type sessions that discussed the role of higher education for language learning, the way businesses can be reached, and gave indications on the future activities of the Business Platform.

Speakers at CELAN Round Table

2012-01-26T11:51:00.004+01:00

Have a look at the speakers at the CELAN Round Table and take the opportunity to talk with reknown experts on language and business at the networking lunch before, the networking cocktail after the event.If you want to register please contact us.

Download the draft programme
Download the speakers list

Language needs of businesses - Round Table 30 Jan 2012

2012-01-20T14:26:00.003+01:00

The CELAN project investigates the language needs of businesses and provides solutions to language strategies. The Round Table is geared at businesses, business representative organisations, language service and technology providers, training institutions, etc. It will discuss where market meets training and what should be done in the future to improve competitiveness and employability through language strategies.

The Round Table is followed by the meeting of the Business Platform for Multilingualism on Tuesday, 31 January morning. For more information, have a look at the programme.

Download the draft programme

Le cyberspace, chance et défi pour les langues

2012-01-13T14:30:00.000+01:00

Dans la conférence du 22 novembre 2011 organisée par DLF Bruxelles-Europe, le « Le cyberespace, chance et défi pour les langues », les intervenants sont tombés d’accord que la survie des langues est liée à leur présence sur l’Internet. Le cyberespace est résolument l’avenir du multilinguisme. Le développement des technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) y jouent un rôle déterminant. Pour lire la synthèse, cliquez ici.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

2011-12-25T13:49:00.003+01:00

CELAN wishes all Blog readers, contributors and visitors a peaceful Christmas season and a healthy and wealthy New Year 2012!

Curious how to say these wishes in other languages? For a polyglot Merry Christmas click here. And the Happy New Year can be found here. ENJOY!

Multilingualism for jobs mobility, but not only

2011-12-20T10:31:00.002+01:00

On November 17, the Council of the European Union issued conclusions on language competences to enhance mobility. In the document the Council not only addresses multilingualism for jobs mobility but also mentions the importance to foster better use of language competences as a mean of increasing the competitiveness of EU business, and especially that of small and medium-sized enterprises. In this context, the Council welcomes the work of the Business Platform for Multilingualism of which EMF is a member of the Steering Committee, and invites the European Commission to further pursue its support and stakeholder initiatives of this kind.

Download the document

CELAN at the LILAMA conference in Brussels

2011-12-05T17:48:00.001+01:00

The LILAMA Network, Linguistic Policy for the Labour Market, hosted on November 24th the conference “Europe 2020: Language Policy and Training Impact on EU’s Employability and Competitiveness”.
The Network launched its best practice guide on language policies for the labour market and training initiatives to boost employability. LILAMA also delivered policy recommendations useful for the next generation of EU programs scheduled for 2014-2020.

CELAN was invited to take part in the conference and present the result of its first working package. Mirela Mazalu from EUCA showed what the CELAN questionnaire unveiled about the language needs of European businesses.

New EU Strategy for SME internationalisation

2011-11-10T18:30:00.005+01:00

The EC issued a new communication on the internationalisation of SMEs yesterday, 9 November 2011 in which it laid down a new strategy to pave the way for SMEs to expand their business outside the EU. Among the activities are:

1. Strengthening and mapping the existing supply of support services
2. Creating a single virtual gateway to information for SMEs
3. Making support schemes at EU level more consistent
4. Promoting clusters and networks for SME internationalisation
5. Rationalising new activities in priority markets
6. Leveraging existing EU external policies

More on SME internationalisation

Communication text

P.S. I made it a habit to look for the word "language" in strategy papers that deal with internationalisation, globalisation, mobility and the like. In this Communication, it appears once: as the promise to translate the pilot portal of Enterprise Europe Network into all EU languages.

CELAN at "Sprachen & Berufe" Conference Berlin

2011-10-31T16:13:00.006+01:00

The Languages & Business Conference that took place from 26-28 October 2011 in Berlin attracted more than 210 participants. All aspects of business-related language challenges were discussed in high-level sessions. Main message: To raise the awareness that and how business can benefit from languages. Have a look at the interview with Kristina Cunningham of DG EAC on "Language skills are crucial for Growth and Jobs" or check out Margaretha Mazura's CELAN's contribution to the session on Foreign Languages in Business: Theory and Practice.

2011-10-22T16:07:00.002+02:00

Observatoire européen du plurilinguisme
3èmes Assises européennes du plurilinguisme
Rome 10, 11 et 12 octobre 2012

Langues sans frontières : Le plurilinguisme

Appel à communication (télécharger)

Date limite de remise des propositions : 30 novembre 2011

Le plurilinguisme n'implique pas l'abolition des frontières, qu'elles soient physiques, politiques, religieuses, intellectuelles, artistiques, ou autres. La frontière, comme la porte, s'ouvre et se ferme, à la fois marqueur d'identité et de différenciation, mais en même temps, condition d'un échange véritable et authentique. Le plurilinguisme fait des frontières quelles qu'elles soient des zones d'échanges, d'enrichissement et de créativité, créativité qui se nourrit de l'altérité assumée et reconnue.

Telle est la thématique générale de ces 3e Assises européennes du plurilinguisme qui se déclineront dans les quatre registres désormais classiques : l'éducation, l'économie, la politique et la culture.

Pour en savoir plus

European Observatory on Plurilingualism

3^rd European Conference on Plurilingualism
Rome 10^th, 11^th and 12^th of October 2012

Languages without Borders: Plurilingualism

Call for papers (download)

deadline for the application form: 30^th of November 2011

Plurilingualism does not mean the disappearance of borders, whether they are physical, political, religious, intellectual, artistic or any others. Such as a door, the border can be opened or closed; it is a marker of identity and of differentiation, but at the same time, it is a condition for a real and authentic exchange. Whatever the border, plurilingualism transforms them as areas of exchanges, enrichment and creativity, a creativity nurtured by an assumed and recognized otherness.

Such is the main set of themes for the 3^rd European Conference on plurilingualism which will decline themselves into four henceforth standard registers: education, economy, politics and culture.

More information

Europäisches Forum für Mehrsprachigkeit

3. Europäische Tagung für Mehrsprachigkeit
Rom, 10. - 12. Oktober 2012

Sprachen ohne Grenzen : Die Mehrsprachigkeit

Tagungsankündigung (download )

Frist für die Rücksendung des Anmeldeformulars: 30. November 2011

Mehrsprachigkeit impliziert nicht die Aufhebung der Grenzen, seien sie physischer, politischer, religiöser, intellektueller, künstlerischer oder anderer Natur. Die Grenze öffnet und schließt sich wie eine Tür, markiert Identität und Differenzierung zugleich, ist aber parallel dazu auch Bedingung für einen wahrhaftigen und authentischen Austausch. Mehrsprachigkeit schafft Grenzen als Zonen des Austauschs, der Bereicherung und der Kreativität, eine Kreativität, die sich von angenommener und anerkannter Verschiedenheit nährt.

Dies ist die allgemeine Thematik der 3. Europäischen Tagung für Mehrsprachigkeit, die sich in die inzwischen klassischen vier Teile aufgliedert: Bildung, Wirtschaft, Politik und Kultur.

Mehr...

Le rapport intermédiaire (septembre 2009-Juin 2011) de la plate-forme pour le multilinguisme en entreprise

2011-09-21T10:27:00.001+02:00

Quelques points importants extraits du rapport

Le rapport intermédiaire (septembre 2009-Juin 2011) de la plate-forme pour le multilinguisme en entreprise a été publié sur le site de la Commission européenne.

http://ec.europa.eu/education/languages/pdf/business_en.pdf (EN).

Objectifs et mission : Ce rapport rappelle tout d’abord que la plate-forme constitue la première tentative, au niveau européen, de réunir des acteurs venus de divers secteurs d’activités pour réfléchir, élaborer des recommandations et prendre des mesures concrètes pour améliorer la performance des entreprises et de l'employabilité grâce à des stratégies linguistiques. Elle s’est donné pour mission de fournir aux entreprises européennes et aux particuliers des services et des outils leur permettant d'améliorer leurs performances professionnelles grâce à des stratégies linguistiques efficaces. Le deuxième volet de sa mission consistera à donner des conseils pertinents à la Commission européenne et aux gouvernements des États.

L’enquête conduite par CELAN : Les résultats de l’enquête sur les besoins linguistiques des entreprises, lancée au printemps 2011 ont dépassé les attentes. Il y a tout lieu de croire que le projet CELAN (réseau pour la promotion des stratégies linguistiques pour la compétitivité et l’emploi http://celan-project.blogspot.com), outil dont s’est dotée la plate-forme, nous mènera de la discussion à l’action concrète. En d'autres termes, la plate-forme comme le projet CELAN représentent des approches novatrices pour les utilisateurs professionnels.

Vers une nouvelle structure élargie : Alors que le comité de pilotage et un certain nombre de membres ont été très actifs dans cette première phase, d’autres, pourtant choisis par la Commission européenne, en raison notamment de leur structure transnationale, ne se sont pas vraiment impliqués : Pour eux l’avenir de l’économie européenne dépend de questions plus fondamentales que les langues. Pour cette raison, il a été proposé de changer la structure de la plate-forme et de former 3 groupes au lieu de 2 : i le comité de pilotage, ii un group de membres actifs, iii un groupe de membres observateurs qui pourront participer s’ils le désirent. Ce groupe pourra accueillir de nouveaux membres.

Perspectives : D’autres réflexions ont été engagées sur l’exploitation des études déjà réalisées par la Commission européenne (le forum « les langues font nos affaires, présidé par M. Étienne Davignon » ou les conclusions du « Groupe de haut niveau sur le multilinguisme, présidé par M. Amin Maalouf » de 2008 et 2007, toujours d’actualité) et sur les actions de soutien qu’elle pourrait entreprendre pour aider les PME engagées dans des stratégies linguistiques. On peut regretter que la stratégie actuelle de la Commission (Europe 2020) ne fasse pas suffisamment référence à la promotion du multilinguisme en tant qu’objectif spécifique. La plate-forme pense que la question des langues doit clairement apparaître sur l'agenda européen et suggère une plus grande collaboration non seulement au sein des différentes directions générales, mais aussi entre elles. Langues et multilinguisme ne sont pas seulement une question d'enseignement et de formation, mais de pratique et de mise en valeur.

Deuxième phase : Le groupe de pilotage a commencé à préparer un programme de travail pour les douze prochains mois. Le point de départ sera une réflexion sur les questions linguistiques liées aux initiatives phares de l’agenda 2020 de la Commission européenne, tels « Jeunesse en mouvement » ou «De nouvelles compétences pour de nouveaux emplois »

Un excellent rapport qui mériterait une traduction complète.

Claire Goyer membre de l’OEP

Language & Business/Sprachen & Berufe Konferenz

2011-09-06T16:02:00.007+02:00

CELAN will be present at the Language & Business conference, to be held on 26 to 28 October in Berlin. Margaretha Mazura (EMF) will present the first results from the CELAN project on Friday, 28 October 2011, 11.45 am, in her intervention: "Language strategies for businesses: a challenge for Europe (revealing the first results from the CELAN project)". More info at the Language & Business website.

Margaretha Mazura (EMF) wird anlässlich der Sprachen & Berufe Konferenz, die von 26.bis 28.Oktober in Berlin stattfindet, über die ersten Ergebnisse des CELAN Projektes in ihrer Präsentation "Sprachstrategien für Unternehmen: eine Herausforderung für Europa" berichten (Parallelsession am Freitag 28. Oktober, 11.45 Uhr). Mehr Information gibt es auf der Sprachen & Berufe Website.

Languages mean business - a new website for languages & business initiatives

2011-07-11T17:14:00.003+02:00

The European Commission have launched the "Languages mean business" platform to offer information on the benefits of languages when doing business and give tips and tools for better language management.

The site contains several sections with interesting information such as results from studies on the use of languages in European SMEs, success stories of small businesses that really made it thanks to a thorough language strategy, tips for success, a support service and much more.

Visit the website

"Multilingual competences for professional and social success in Europe" 28-29 September 2011, Warsaw

2011-07-11T12:06:00.005+02:00

The two days event about the importance of multilingual competences will be organized under the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and will be held in the Warsaw University on 28th and 29th September 2011. The conference wants to show the impact of multilingual competences on professional and social success in Europe as well as underline the importance of language education within the framework of a new generation of European educational programmes.

The main discussions of the conference will focus on:

the process of acquisition of multilingual and multicultural competences within the framework of formal, informal and non-formal education;
using foreign languages both for the communication purposes and social inclusion;
the impact of the situation on the labour market on the increased demand for language services as well as the necessity of closer cooperation between business and education.

More information

Le plurilinguisme au travail entre la philosophie de l’entreprise, les représentations des acteurs et les pratiques quotidiennes

2011-06-18T19:38:00.003+02:00

Depuis l'automne 2007, l'équipe de l'Université de Bâle au sein du projet DYLAN étudie la manière dont les entreprises opérant et/ou basées dans la région de Bâle gèrent la diversité linguistique, les pratiques observables dans ces mêmes entreprises et la relation entre ces deux champs, à savoir l'impact de la gestion sur les pratiques, mais aussi la dimension pour ainsi dire "contestataires" de certaines de ces pratiques.

Georges Lüdi
Université de Bâle,
Institut d’Études françaises et francophones
Maiengasse 51, CH-4056 Basel
Tel: +41 61 267 12 60 Fax: +41 61 267 12 86
@: georges.luedi@unibas.ch http://www.franz.unibas.ch/luedi

1. Les langues dans les entreprises : récit d'une petite révolution copernicienne

2011-06-18T19:31:00.001+02:00

A lire dans la Lettre N°41 de l'OEP

The Importance of Being Multilingual

2011-06-10T09:57:00.010+02:00

Businesses are encouraged to invest in language strategies to become more competitive and far reaching on international markets, but for young people language learning has become an everyday strategy for creating more and more connections, be it with friends, at university, on the Internet or in their travels. Later on, language skills and cultural competences acquired in school and extracurricular activities look great on their CVs.

In cooperation with the European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture, Unit for Multilingual Policy, EUCA has organized for all the young people from its network of university colleges an essay competition, "Languages mean business". Students have to write a short essay explaining how speaking another language made a difference when making a decision about the future.

12 winners will present their language stories in Warsaw on the 29th of September at the "Language competences for professional and social success in Europe" conference!

For more information, please visit:

http://www.euca.eu/importance-being-multilingual-participate-languages-mean-business-international-competition

* Photo: © Marek and Ewa Wojciechowscy / Trips over Poland / CC-BY-SA-3.0, 2.5, 2.0, 1.0 & GDFL

Lingua franca: Chimera or reality?

2011-06-09T12:37:00.002+02:00

The European Commission, DG Translation, published a survey on English as a lingua franca. The 96 pages document gives the pros and cons of the principle of English as a Lingua Franca - worthwhile to read for everybody interested in multilingualism in Europe.

Download the survey

CELAN at Festival of Europe in Florence

2011-05-09T09:46:00.004+02:00

From the 6th to 10th of May EUCA will be present at the Pavilion Europa in Piazza della Signoria in Florence to promote the Association's activities to the general public and to all other associations that take part in the event. The CELAN project will be also discussed at the presentations EUCA will give inside the events "The Europe of mobility for work and study" and "Digital Europe: Digital Agenda".

LaRC 2011 conference in Seoul

2011-05-05T11:00:00.006+02:00

The Internationl Conference on terminology, languages and content resources will be held on June 10th - 11th in Seoul, South Korea. The conference will provide an informal and engaging environment for discussing cutting-edge and emerging natural language processing and semantic web technologies.

Soirée professionnelle de l'Association internationale des interprètes de conférence (Paris, 2 avril 2011)

2011-04-17T00:34:00.009+02:00

La représentation de la pièce de théâtre de David Lescot, L'Européenne, a été suivie d'un débat à l'occasion duquel Christian Tremblay, président de l'OEP, a présenté le projet CELAN. Il a notamment souligné la petite "révolution copernicienne" opérée par le rapport ELAN, suivi du rapport "Davignon" et de la communication de la commission européenne de 2008 "multilinguisme : un atout pour l'Europe et un engagement commun" dans la manière d'approcher la question des langues dans l'économie. Le projet CELAN en est le prolongement.

On-line questionnaire on lingusitic needs of enterprises

2011-04-14T17:18:00.005+02:00

Are you an enterprise or a business organisation?
Did you ever think about languages as a business asset?
Do you have specific linguistic needs? Or don't you know?
Help us in defining YOUR NEEDS and fill in the QUESTIONNAIRE - it takes only a few minutes! You can select between English, French, German, Italian and Spanish version!
This is an on-line version, to make your contribution even easier and quicker!

Business Platform for Multilingualism Plenary

2011-04-14T16:57:00.005+02:00

On 11 April 2011, the members of the Business Platform for Multilingualism held their 5th plenary meeting. Keynote speaker Pierre Mairesse, Director at DG EAC, underlined that access to the labour market is a priority, in particular for the youth, and that multilingualism is an important success factor. The platform members, representatives from business organisations, trade unions, language interest groups and language professionals, discussed about the next steps, amongst them a more transversal approach to languages, and the acceptance of linguistic knowledge acquired informally or non-formally. The platform will issue a report by mid-June that will give an overview on achievements so far and recommendations for the future until 2013.

DG InfSo/Language Technologies links to CELAN

2011-04-07T13:29:00.005+02:00

The News section of DG Information Society - Language Technologies links to the CELAN project.
Visit the website and get interesting information about language technology projects, news on events and open calls.

Help us identify YOUR needs

2011-03-23T22:38:00.013+01:00

CELAN tries to get at a bottom-up approach: What does multilingualism mean to SMEs? What do they need? What is their "wish-list", if any? What can be improved in terms of cross-border communication? If you want to have your opinion heard, take 5 minutes and fill in the QUESTIONNAIRE! And don't forget: We try to help you to become even more competitive! Help us to make sense of our endeavour!
QUESTIONNAIRE EN FRANÇAIS
FRAGEBOGEN AUF DEUTSCH
CUESTIONARIO EN ESPAÑOL
QUESTIONARIO IN ITALIANO
VRAGENLIJST IN NEDERLANDS

Business Platform for Multilingualism - Next Plenary

2011-03-03T10:40:00.005+01:00

This is to inform you that the next plenary of the Business Platform for Multilingualism will be held on Monday, 11 April 2011, in the Albert Borchette conference centre in Rue Froissart, room 3A in Brussels. Main topic will be how to join forces and create synergies between the CELAN project activities and the broader membership of the platform and its networks.

Die nächste Plenarsitzung der "Business Plattform für Mehrsprachigkeit" wird am Montag, dem 11. April 2011, im Albert Borchette Konferenzzentrum, rue Froissart, Saal 3A in Brüssel stattfinden. Hauptthema wird die Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem CELAN Projekt und den Mitgliedern der Plattform sowie ihrer Netzwerke sein.

Je vous informe que la prochaine réunion plénière de la "Business Platform for Multilingualism" aura lieu le lundi 11 avril 2011 à Bruxelles, dans le centre de conférence Albert Borschette, Rue Froissart, salle 3A. Le thème principal sera de savoir comment unir nos forces et créer des synergies entre les activités du projet CELAN et l'ensemble des membres de la plateforme et de ses réseaux.

CELAN - ein Netzwerk für Mehrsprachigkeit

2011-02-26T14:43:00.005+01:00

Im Jänner 2011 begann das Projekt CELAN, das "Netzwerk zur Förderung von sprachlichen Strategien für Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Beschäftigungsfähigkeit". Eines seiner Ziele ist, im Laufe von zwei Jahren den Dialog zwischen Wirtschaft und Sprachpraktikern zu fördern.

„Als Folge von Entwicklungen wie der EU-Erweiterung, Globalisierung und Internationalisierung sowie rasanter technologischer Fortschritte haben sich die Sprachenkonstellation und der Sprachengebrauch in Europa in den letzten zehn Jahren dramatisch verändert. So wird einerseits heute mehr Englisch verwendet als je zuvor – andererseits aber spielen andere – europäische und außereuropäische -Sprachen gerade auch im Wirtschaftsleben und auf dem Arbeitsmarkt eine enorm wichtige Rolle. Deutsche Unternehmer, die glauben, allein mit Englisch durchzukommen, irren sich gewaltig,“ sagt Prof. Mackiewicz von der Freien Universität Berlin, der auch CELAN Projektkoordinator ist. Sprachen werden zunehmend für die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von kleinen und Kleinstunternehmen wichtig, und damit wird auch Mehrsprachigkeit auf dem Arbeitsmarkt aufgewertet.

CELAN wird diese Entwickung durch drei Hauptaktivitäten unterstützen:

• Erforschung von sprachlichen Bedürfnissen der europäischen Unternehmen / KMU in verschiedenen Sektoren;
• Analyse der bestehenden sprachbezogenen Dienstleistungen und Mittel;
• Entwicklung von Online-Anwendungen zur Unterstützung der sprachlichen Bedürfnisse der Geschäftsanwender.

DG EAC-Multilingualism announces CELAN start

2011-02-22T10:03:00.002+01:00

The European Commission, DG for Education and Culture, announced the start of CELAN in its news section of the pages on multilingualism. The article on CELAN is available in English, French and German.

CELAN and SPACE

2011-02-14T07:56:00.000+01:00

The CELAN project will be presented at the SPACE conference in Mechelen 27 - 30 April 2011. Please see programme on
www.space-eu.info

The Launch of CELAN

2011-02-13T19:10:00.001+01:00

On Friday, 11 February, the CELAN project was launched, with the participation of 18 partner representatives. The Work Package leaders presented the objectives and activities, and all the partners collaborated in drafting a first implementation plan with concrete time lines and milestones to be reached. This Blog will inform about the progress of CELAN and any news related to it. To make sure that you are up-dated, subscribe to the Blog now.

The start of CELAN

2011-02-09T18:27:00.000+01:00

The CELAN project, a network under LLP KA2 "Languages" started officially on 1 January 2011, with a duration of 24 months. The project’s principal objective is to facilitate a dialogue in the language field between the business community and language practitioners. The project activities include:

Research on linguistic needs of European companies/SMEs in different sectors
Analysis of existing language-related services and tools
Development of on-line applications to support the language needs of business users

A strong and broad consortium - all members of the Business Platform for Multilingualism or linked to a member (for the partners' list, scroll down) - will engage in dissemination and awareness raising activities to guarantee a Europe-wide reach-out.
If you want to receive news on CELAN, subscribe to this Blog.

The origins of CELAN

2011-02-09T18:05:00.002+01:00

CELAN is the result of a long development of language policies at EU level. Its direct origin is the Business Platform for Multilingualism, initiated in September 2009 by DG Education and Culture. Stakeholders in business - industry representatives, companies, associations, trade unions, language industry representatives etc. - discussed the need for an enhanced awareness of the importance of languages in business. From these discussions stems the core idea of CELAN: create a network that provides language services to business stakeholders. For more information on the Business Platform for Multilingualism, visit the EUCA platform page.