Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism

Dinko Klarić, as representative of the Culturelink Network, was invited by the Directorate General for Education and Culture of the European Commission and the Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism to participate in a meeting between the members of the Platform and representatives of the European Commission which was held on 11 October 2013 in Brussels. The Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism works to promote multilingualism within the European Union through civil society engagement and collaboration with representatives of the European Commission. Culturelink promotes the work of the Platform and through its networks publicizes the issues which the Platform deals with, such as the problems of minority languages and their marginalization. During the meeting Head of Unit for Skills and Qualifications of the Directorate General for Education and Culture Ana Carla Pereira emphasized the importance of the advisory role of the Platform, member of the European Commission Kristina Cunningham presented the Commission’s programs promoting multilingualism through the study of the “big five” languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian), language study through Massive Online Language Courses (MOOCS) and language competence testing for Erasmus participants before and after their involvement in the programme, while Platform members presented the results of working groups formed during the last meeting (Formal Education, Informal Education, Erasmus Programme Analysis, Better Learning for Disadvantaged Groups).