13th EFNIL Conference, Helsinki

13^th Annual EFNIL Conference

in Helsinki/Helsingfors on 7-9 October 2015

hosted by

Kotimaisten kielten keskus/Institutet för de inhemska språken

Institute for the Languages of Finland

“Language use in public administration –

theory and practice in the European states”

Conference programme

7^th October

18:30-19:30 (Informal) Reception

8^th October

9:30-11:30 Opening session:

Pirkko Nuolijärvi (Director of Institute for the Languages of Finland): Welcome Address

Anita Lehikoinen (Permanent Secretary, Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture): Address

Peggy Heikkinen (Network to Promote Linguistic Diversity, NPLD): Address

Gerhard Stickel (EFNIL): Introduction

Ann D'haen-Bertier (European Commission, DG Interpretation): The importance and use of languages in the EU Institutions, in particular from the perspective of interpretation.

Christos Ellinides (European Commission, DG Translation): Translating for Europe - Citizens First! - See slides

11:30-12:00 Coffee break

12:00-14:00 2^nd session:

Georg Rehm (META-NET): Cracking the Language Barrier for a Multilingual Europe - See slides

Rickard Domeij (Sweden): Can official web sites be accessible for all? A Swedish language policy perspective - See slides

Eivor Sommardahl and Aino Piehl (Finland): Plain language in two official languages. Is there an advantage? - See slides

Ari Páll Kristinsson (Iceland): Language in public administration in present-day Iceland. Some challenges for majority language management - See slides

Moderation: John Simpson

14:00-15:00 Lunch

15:00-16:30 3^rd session:

Cecilia Robustelli and Italo Rubino (Italy): Language use in public administration in Italy.

Nicoletta Mariolini (Switzerland): Multilingualism – A Governmental Perspective - See slides

Anna Davitt (Ireland): Language use in public administration in Ireland - Public services. Private choice. - See slides

Moderation: Guy Berg

16:30-17:00 Coffee break

17:00-18:00 4^th session:

Walery Pisarek (Poland): Project Jasnopis [Clearwriting] and other recent endeavours for improvement of communication between public institutions and citizens in Poland - See text

Júlia Vrábľová - Slavomír Ondrejovič (Slovakia): Language use in public administration - theory and praxis in Slovakia

Moderation: Tamás Váradi

19:30 Conference Dinner

9^th October

8:30-10:30 5^th session:

Amira-Louise Ouardalitou (Luxembourg): Language use of public administration in Luxembourg - See slides

Anne Kjærgaard (The Danish Language Council): Text revisions in practice in the Danish public administration: an investigation of the effect that revising a tax letter has on its readers - See slides

Margarethe Kvarenes (Norway): Plain language in Norway's civil service: A joint initiative under changing political winds - See slides

Jutta Ransmayr (Austrian Academy of Sciences): Monolingual country? Multilingual society. Aspects of language use in public administration in Austria. - See slides

Moderation: Cecilia Robustelli

10:30-11:00 Coffee break

11:00-12:00 6^th session:

Karlijn Waterman (Netherlands): Petra-e - See slides

Bessie Dendrinos (Greece): The European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism

Moderation: Sabine Kirchmeier

12:00-13:00 General Discussion

Language use in public administration- What do we want?

Moderation: Sabine Kirchmeier

13:00-14:00 Lunch

14:00-16:00 General Assembly (for members of EFNIL only)

Pictures from EFNIL Conference Helsinki 2015