EUCA Message in a Bottle Contest

The Message in a Bottle Contest was launched in 2011 to celebrate European citizenship and in 2011 continued to celebrate the European Year of Volunteering and the UN International Year of Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding. Students from EUCA Colleges were invited to take up the theme of volunteering and youth by creating an innovative work, able to bring people closer to these themes. 

In 2012, Message in a Bottle was re-launched in the college halls of residence of the EUCA network on the theme of ‘Multilingualism’. University students were asked to write an essay, a poem or a story, to shoot a video or to make a photograph about the importance of multilingualism in today’s world. 

On January the 18th 2013, the winners of the 2012 edition were announced and they were invited to take part at the next EUCA event to receive the prize for their work, an iPad 3.

To see the winning works please see the News feed on the EUCA website

CELAN partner meeting in Brussels

The CELAN partners met in Brussels to discuss exploitation opportunities for the CELAN network and results, in view of the soon ending LLP project. 

From left to right: Wolfgang Trenn, FUB, Christian Galinsk, Infoterm, Margareha Mazura, EMF, Mike Hammersley, FAV, Wolfgang Mackiewicz, ELC/CEL, Gustavo Gonzalo-Quijano, COTANCE, Claire Goyer, OEP, Mirela Mazalu, EUCA, Blanca Stella Giraldo, Infoterm, Dieter Jirmann-Heidl.

Call for papers: the European Symposium on Languages for Special Purposes (LSP) 2013

The European Symposium on Languages for Special Purposes (LSP) 2013 is going to take place in Vienna, Austria, from 8 to 10 July 2013. The following topics, among others, are going to be dealt with:

• Languages for Special Purposes in different languages, countries and regions of the world
• Theoretical and methodological issues of LSP research
• Multilingualism, language policies and socio-cultural issues of LSPs

The deadline for the submission of oral presentations is February 12th, 2013.

For further information, please download this document.

Season's Greetings!

eSkills Panorama Launch

At the conference “Anticipating skills needs at EU level” held on 7 December 2012 in Brussels, DG Education and Culture  and DG Employment,  unveiled the joint effort: eSkills Panorama (www.eskillspanorama.ec.europa.eu), a platform that provides European and national information about skills, competences and jobs. In her welcome address, Commissioner A. Vassiliou underlined the necessity to rethink education: skills needs are changing; to combat youth unemployment (up to 50% in some Member States)  re-skilling and up-skilling is necessary. Member States need to carry out reforms towards open learning and to deepen the understanding of the labour market. 

The eSkills Panorama is not an isolated initiative but part of the eSkill Strategy. Amongst the tools available are: 

• ESCO – the European multilingual classification of skills and competences
• EURES – the European Job Mobility Portal
• PLOTEUS – the Portal on Learning Opportunities throughout the European Space)
• EUROPASS – where you can create your “Five documents to make your skills and qualifications clearly and easily understood in Europe”

The European Commission’s Communication “Rethinking Education”

European education and training systems continue to fall short in providing the right skills for employability, and are not working adequately with business or employers to bring the learning experience closer to the reality of the working environment. These skills mismatches are a growing concern for European industry's competitiveness, says the most recent Communication of the European Commission, appealing to EU Member States to set actions. 

The Communication underlines the importance of tapping on the potential of ICT for education and teaching and highlights the need to develop transversal skills (such as problem solving, team work etc. often also referred to as soft skills) and entrepreneurial skills as they not only contribute to new business creation but also to the employability of young people. 

In this respect, the Communication emphasises at several instances the importance of languages. In a world of international exchanges, the ability to speak foreign languages is a factor for competitiveness. Languages are more and more important to increase levels of employability and mobility of young people.

Further education in STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – is needed if Europe wants to compete with countries like Brazil, China and India that spend more on high skilled STEM education than the USA, Japan and UK together. 

More information about the full document.

Multilingualism is key for business, growth and the Europe2020 strategy

The Final Workshop of CELAN – Language strategies for competitiveness and employability took place on 15 November 2012 in Brussels and was attended by key stakeholders such as business associations, Higher Education representatives, decision-makers but also companies that implemented language strategies successfully and language technology providers. 

"Multilingualism is key for business, growth and the Europe2020 strategy" emphasised Sonia Peressini, DG EAC, Multilingualism Unit, in her welcome address. And Wolfgang Mackiewicz, Freie Universität Berlin and CELAN coordinator evoked again the two main tenets CELAN came to: "multilingualism needs to be business-driven, and "no size fits all", in particular for SMEs". 

Workshop presentations :

• CELAN Final Workshop Wolfgang Mackiewicz
• CELAN Final Workshop Gustavo Gonzales
• CELAN Final Workshop Christian Galinski
• CELAN Final Workshop Mike Hammersley
• CELAN Final Workshop Margaretha Mazura
• CELAN Final Workshop Gerald Lobermeier

The beta version of a needs assessment tool is available now. Any feed-back is highly appreciated to letter-box@emfs.eu.

NEW VENUE for CELAN Final Workshop

The CELAN Final Workshop on "Language Strategies for competitiveness and employability" will take place at the Hotel Leopold, rue du Luxembourg 35, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.

The workshop starts at 13.00 hrs until 17.00 and is followed by a networking cocktail.

Final Programme. 

CELAN Final Workshop 15 November, Brussels

The Final Workshop of the CELAN project - Language Strategies for Competitiveness and Employability - will take place on 15 November 2012 in Brussels. 

"In the age of globalization, an ever increasing number of products and services are offered to a growing number of language communities... I have to admit that I was overwhelmed by these findings – and their economic implications" says Wolfgang Mackewicz, coordinator of the CELAN project. Join us and find out your language needs and be part of the panel discussion on future strategies. 

Programme 

Registration

EU-China Language Forum: cooperation and bilateral relations

On 16 October 2012, a EU-China Language Forum will be held. With trade and political relations between China and Europe on the rise, the role of language and language education is crucial. More than 2000 Chinese students have benefited from Erasmus Mundus grants to study in the EU, while the Chinese government yearly provides 200 scholarships for European students to study Chinese in China. This conference will analyse and explore potential policy measures and practices to improve language education, cooperation and bilateral relations between China and Europe.
Registration are still possible until Monday, 15 October 2012.

More information about EU-China Language Forum.