The Faculty of Arts welcomed nearly one hundred experts, policymakers, and academics from various European and North American cross-border regions to explore how interculturality, multilingualism, and identity diversity can foster integration and cooperation in border areas.
Objectives of the conference
According to various surveys, more than half of Europeans perceive linguistic differences as a problem for cross-border cooperation, and a third feel the same about cultural differences; half also see obstacles in social, economic, legal or administrative aspects. In this context, the conference aimed to seek strategies to overcome these barriers, analysing successes and failures in cross-border initiatives and assessing the key role of culture, language and identity in fostering mutual understanding.
The Across Team attending the TEIN conference.
Programme, sessions and participants
The first day began with an institutional welcome by the Vice-Rector for Strategic Projects and Internationalisation, Robert Martí, and a roundtable moderated by Dr. Mariona Illamola from UdG on cooperation in the Catalan cross-border region, with Albert Piñeira (director of the Casa de la Generalitat in Perpignan), Xavier Bernard-Sans (director of the Pyrenees-Mediterranean Euroregion) and Mònica Plana (territorial cooperation consultant). It is worth noting that Dr. Illamola is also a member of the Think Tank of the Across Alliance.
The Across alliance had a strong presence throughout the conference, with contributions from the Universities of Perpignan Via Domitia, Udine, Nova Gorica and, of course, the University of Girona, all members Across.
As part of this collaboration, the UNIESCAT project, which emerged from the Across Alliance and is jointly promoted by the University of Perpignan Via Domitia and the University of Girona, was also mentioned. It seeks to consolidate shared academic structures between both institutions and presented a paper at the conference.
Throughout the day, two parallel sessions were held: “Languages and education” on one side, and “Legal aspects”, “Identity”, “Interculturality” and “Development” in relation to cross-border territories on the other.
More than 40 presentations addressed issues related to the cross-border phenomenon from various perspectives: linguistic, educational, legal, cultural and identity-related, such as legal protection of diversity in cross-border work, the role of different languages, as well as the promotion of European identity through primary education and bilingual programmes or tandem courses for professionals in border areas, among others. Examples of hybridisation and preservation of identities and cultures in border zones were also presented.
On the second day, Arzu Burcu Tuner (from the Council of Europe) gave a keynote speech dedicated to the Council of Europe’s language and education policy. The following debates addressed topics such as interlinguistic communication in local administration, language revitalisation processes in northern France, the influence of language skills on labour mobility in border areas, and the role of interculturality in cross-border cooperation.
Conclusions
The overall assessment of the conference was very positive, as it highlighted the need for policies based on intercultural dialogue, the appreciation of multilingualism and the recognition of plural identities. It became evident how cross-border experiences can serve as laboratories for social and political innovation across Europe, and that participation in networks such as TEIN, the ACROSS alliance and the UNIESCAT project are key to positioning the University of Girona in the cross-border field.
