World Network for Linguistic Diversity

From ICVWiki

1 Presentation of the Maaya Network
2 International Year of Languages

Presentation of the Maaya Network

Linguistic and cultural diversity in cyberspace is one of the priorities identified at the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). During its second phase in Tunis, a new institutional network was created by the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), under the auspices of the African Union and NEPAD: the "World Network for Linguistic Diversity" (Maaya). While the initiative started in the context of the WSIS, it also includes organizations not solely focusing on cyber issues. It is a multi-stakeholder network, involving all sectors including civil society, governments, international organizations, research centers and universities, media, the private sector and individuals. Its mission is to value and promote linguistic diversity as a basis of the unity of human communication. Maaya will serve as a platform of exchange and sharing in the area of shared knowledge, where technology offers a great potential for languages, but is also a risk to them, as to date only a very small number of languages of the 6000 spoken in the world are available in cyberspace. At present, the Network takes part in a think tank around the broad orientation of the action line C8 of the WSIS Plan of Action "Diversity and cultural identity, linguistic diversity and local contexts" and it proposes itself as the moderator of the Sub theme on Linguistic Diversity. For more information about Maaya, see www.maaya.org.

International Year of Languages

Background

2008 will be the International Year of Languages. Maaya -- the Network for Linguistic Diversity -- will play an active role in the Year, facilitating a range of activities, including a list of events in which it will be involved to varying degrees. The Year has been announced by H.E. Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, coordinating UN body of the Year. casinos en ligne.bonus poker

Event Calendar

The following event calendar lists events foreseen in 2008 and related to languages and linguistic diversity:

21st February 2008, UNESCO, Paris: Launch of the International Year of Languages (IYL), at the occasion of the International Mother Language Day

21st February 2009, UNESCO, Paris: Reporting back as a follow-up of the International Year of Languages (IYL)

Regional events and activities

== AUSTRALIA

15-16 May 2008: Open Road Conference - Multilingualism and the Information Society, Melbourne, Australia

www.openroad.net.au/conferences/2008 ==

Asia

11 to 12 January 2008, Hyderabad, India: Workshop on Asian language resource structure

Japan: Domestic coverage, workshop in January, prototype of Asia, report from Asian part, promote creation and sharing of electronic language resources

5-7 May 2008: The International Workshop on Spoken Languages Technologies for Under-resourced languages (SLTU) at the Hanoi University of Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam.

1-3 July 2008, Bangkok Thailand: Second International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual Education in Ethnic Minority Communities

4-5 July, Bangkok, Thailand: UNESCO, Institut Royal de Thaïlande. National Language Policy: Language Diversity for National Unity (politique linguistique nationale : la diversité linguistique pour une unité nationale). More...

4-7 August 2008, Shanghai, China: XVIII FIT World Congress "Translation and Cultural Diversity"

8-11 December 2008, Delhi, India: 3rd Internet Governance Forum http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/pi1750.doc.htm

Europe

Geneva/Genève/Ĝenevo (Switzerland), Symposium/Simpozio, UN, "Linguistic Rights in the World, the current situation" organized by the Universal Esperanto Association (UEA), 24 April 2008 [1]

Bangor, Wales: Conference to Celebrate the International Year of Languages, 22 & 23 August 2008, World Language Documentation Centre, UNESCO UK and Bangor University.

Barcelona, Spain: Linguistic Diversity in Cyberspace in the Context of Intercultural Dialogue, November 2008, TBC

Barcelona, Spain: World Congress on Multilingualism, Linguamon, 28 November 2008.

Oslo, Norway: University of Oslo, Année Norvégienne de la Diversité Culturelle, date still to be deterimed, possible option would be 21 June 2008, University of Oslo

Latin America and the Caribbean

8-13 December 2008, La Havana, Cuba: World Congress on Specialized Translation, organized under the auspices of Maaya, Union Latine, El Instituto del Libro, the Department of Culture of the Academy of Sciences and in coordination with the National Association of translators, the translation and interpretation services companies and the Universities from Quebec. More...

10-12 November 2008, São Paulo, Brazil Communication and Information for All Meeting: partnerships for free academic content in digital world, The meeting shall debate some minimal conditions for a knowledge society in developing countries. UNESCO Chair Multilingualism and Local Content Production in Digital World. Organizers: Claudia Wanderley and Fernando Rosa Ribeiro [http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=57697&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Brazil: Idea to organize an event in 2008 related to linguistic diversity and multilingualism, Latin American focus, book of languages as a project

Kingston, Jamaica: The inaugural session of the biennial four-week institute of The University of the West Indies (UWI) will be launched on 30 June 2008 at the Mona campus of the UWI. The thematic focus of the CLLI is Endangered and Living Caribbean Languages. The programme features intensive exposure to linguistics, to the structure and usage of Caribbean languages, and to fieldwork training. Caribbean Language and Linguistics Institute 2008

18-22 June 2007, São Paulo, Brazil First International Meeting Multilingualism in Digital World. UNESCO Chair Multilingualism and Local Content Production in Digital World. Organizers: Claudia Wanderley and Fabio Bastos [http://www.multilinguismo.org/actividades/index.php

17 May 2007, UNESCO creation of UNESCO Chair Multilingualism and Local Content Production in Digital World, at the University of Campinas, Brazil, in partnership with Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, Universidade Jean Piaget, Cape Vert, Universidade Agostinho Neto, Angola, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique, Instituto Superior de Educação, Cape Vert, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas, Guiné Bissau, Escola Normal Superior Tchico Té, Guiné Bissau, Instituto Superior Politécnico, Saint Thome and Principe, University of Macau, China, Macao Polytechnic Institute, China, Inter-University Institute of Macau, China, Macao International Institute, National University of Timor Lorosae, East Timor. [http://www.brasilia.unesco.org/comunidades/catedras/Catedra%20UNICAMP

Africa

Bamako, Mali, July August: Rencontre Panafricaine sur "Langues Africaines et Cyberespace"

Bamako, Mali: Languages and culture, society in mutation, diversity of language and speech for human dignity: oral traditions that help value society from a behavioral point of view, culture of peace, aiming a publication around this topic. Langues et cultures, diversité de langues dignité humaine

Bamako, Mali, beginning December 2008: Racines africaines de la culture mandigne – magna carta, court confuga – assises du Mali – sacralité du Mali

Sierra Leone or Liberia: "The future of a plurilingual planet" -- the object would be to stimulate reflection on the strategies required for the free circulation of information and knowledge in a plurilingual world, a world in which the right to education of every child in every community will at last be established.