The European Language Equality Network (ELEN), Europe’s largest organisation working for the protection and promotion of European minoritised and endangered languages, will be holding its 2025 General Assembly in the Catalan capital from 14th to 16th November hosted by the NGO CIEMEN, with the support of the Catalan Government and Barcelona City Council.
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The Catalan Minister for Language Policy, F. Xavier Vila i Moreno, is scheduled to open the event on the Saturday with the Director-General for language policy in the audiovisual and technology area, Roger Serra Puig, opening on the Friday. The President of the Catalan Parliament, Josep Rull i Andreu, and Marta Salicrú Serra from Barcelona Council will also address members at the official reception on the Friday.
This year’s themes will look at how effective can language technologies and social media be in helping to maintain and increase everyday usage of our languages, as well as ELEN’s new campaign strategy developed with the UN Special Rapporteur for Minorities. The 2025 meeting will also focus on ELEN’s NGO work and networking and will be held in the El Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria, the renowned cultural space and event centre housed in a restored 19th century market in one of Barcelona’s most fashionable neighbourhoods.
The meeting comes at a time when public support for European minoritised languages has never been higher with a massive 84% of EU citizens backing strong support for minoritized languages in the 2024 Eurobarometer poll, as well as this summer’s IFOP poll in France underlining huge support (93% Corsicans, 91% Basques, 90% Alsace, 87% Bretons and Catalans, 77% French) for official status for minoritised languages in the French state, as well as overwhelming support for obligatory regional language education. Yet, at the same time, minoritized language speakers across Europe continue to face a wide range of problems including active discrimination, hate-speech, lack of funding, attacks on immersion education, mostly because of inadequate or non-existent protection mechanisms at the state and international level.
The opening Friday “Research and Activism” session features Director-General Roger Serra discussing the latest developments in language technology that supports European minoritized languages, followed by a workshop on online content creation and increasing everyday usage for our languages.
Fosterlang, the new EU-funded Horizon project aiming to boost minoritized languages, will also be holding two workshops on Friday as part of the event. The first workshop will be on the Catalan experience with immersion education. The second workshop will look at how language technology can benefit endangered languages and discuss what is engaging in terms of social media content for young speakers.
Minister Vila will open proceedings on the Saturday. This is followed by a session with the UN Special Rapporteur for Minorities, Nicolas Levrat, ELEN President Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones, ELEN Secretary-General Davyth Hicks, Council of Europe ECRML COMEX Chief Aleksandra Oszmianska-Pagett, Mirjam Vellinga (Afûk) and Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin (Conradh na Gaeilge President), on ELEN’s new campaign strategy for the international institutions, with a focus on getting the EU to act to protect minoritised languages, an EU obligation under Article 2 of the Lisbon Treaty.
The event will turn to focus on NGO work, developing the organization, and networking. In addition, there will be workshops on the housing crisis, developing ELEN Youth, as well as one of the popular features of ELEN meetings – the Resolutions. 2025 also sees a record number of new members joining.
Speaking to the media ELEN President Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones said. “We are delighted to be holding the ELEN General Assembly this year in Barcelona. I’d like to thank the Government of Catalonia for sponsoring and supporting, and CIEMEN for all their hard work in bringing the programme together. We’re expecting the highest number ever of ELEN delegates to attend and a record number of new organizations joining ELEN. The activists and analysts of our languages know the value of international solidarity and advocacy when it comes to the important matter of securing a sustainable future for our languages and communities.
“Digital technology and media is our main theme this year. Catalan – like all our languages – must be at the heart of its speakers’ daily digital lives and central to digital social cohesion. There are many examples of innovative policies and practices taking place here – and in other languages – and we look forward to learn more, work together and campaign for a more equal digital environment. Our languages need resourced digital media and technology as a foundation for all language spheres, all geo-densities and all ages, today and for the future.”
Davyth Hicks, ELEN Secretary-General, added that. “Our meeting in Catalonia 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. At the same time, there’s been a huge sea-change in public support for our languages. A recent Eurobarometer poll showed that a massive 84% of Europeans support better protection for our languages. This was backed by this summer’s extraordinary IFOP poll in France indicating overwhelming support for so-called “regional” languages, official status and immersion education, combined with a huge support for substantive autonomy and a general rejection of French-style hyper centralization.
“Now more than ever it’s time for the EU to recognize European public opinion and bring forward measures to protect our languages, as it is required to do under Article 2 of the Lisbon Treaty. There’s been over 20 years of inaction. It’s not acceptable. If the EU is meant to protect minoritized languages and meaningfully “respect its linguistic diversity”, the EU must take action to live up to that statement. The new ELEN campaign strategy, to be discussed in Barcelona, will act to galvanise civil society and will be the focus for our ongoing work to get the substantive protection that we need for our languages.”
CIEMEN President David Minoves said: “From CIEMEN, with more than fifty years of history defending collective rights, it is a pleasure to host ELEN’s General Assembly in Catalonia. We work together to defend our linguistic rights, to ensure the future of our languages, and to be able to live in them fully.”
CIEMEN Director Jordi Garrell added: “Catalonia will become a real epicentre of minoritized language activity during the General Assembly, with so many ELEN member organisations gathering from all over Europe. It is an opportunity to join forces and become stronger in the face of ongoing challenges to our languages.” (Eurolang 2025)
ELEN GA General Timings and Location
El Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria,
Plaça Comercial, 12
08003 Barcelona.
Catalonia
Friday 14th November 14.00 to 18.00
Official Reception 19.00 -21.00
Saturday 15th November 09.00 to 18.00
Reception 20.00 to 23.00