On 11 November 2024, the upcoming 8th Forum of European Minority Regions was officially presented during a press conference at the Kursaal Congress Centre in San Sebastián/Donostia, Basque Country (Spain). The forum was introduced by Irune Berasaluze from the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council, Lohitzune Txarola, Director of LANGUNE (Association of Language Industries in the Basque Country), and FUEN’s Vice President Gösta Toft.
The forum, titled “Hizkuntzen Irabazia – Benefits of Language Industry in the Economy”, will be held in San Sebastián/Donostia on 26-27 November 2024, and will focus on the challenges and opportunities that digitalisation presents for minorities. Organised by FUEN in collaboration with LANGUNE, the conference will explore the impact of digital transformation on the languages and cultures of minority communities. It aims to address how these communities can keep pace with and benefit from digital technologies, such as machine translation, speech recognition, and text generation.
“At the forum, we will highlight the progress made by the Basque language to ensure it remains relevant in emerging language technologies, and we will have the opportunity to discover what actions other minority languages are taking: where do they stand? What contribution does the evolution of a language make to the development of the economy of its country? What is the European Union’s position on language development?”, noted Lohitzune Txarola during yesterday’s press conference.
Gösta Toft underscored the economic importance of minority languages, stating: “Minorities contribute to the economic and social development of their home regions. As a result, it is no coincidence that some of these regions are the richest in Europe: for example, South Tyrol has the highest income per capita in Italy, and the Basque Country and Navarre are two of the richest regions in Spain.”
The forum will provide a platform for discussing the state of 15 minority languages across Europe, featuring contributions from over 30 speakers, and exploring potential strategies to promote language technologies within these communities. Further details about the forum’s programme can be found on its website: forum.fuen.org.
