User:Wikicathe/European Centre for Modern Languages

Background
The European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) was founded on 8 April 1994 as an “Enlarged partial agreement” of the Council of Europe. The partial agreement is “enlarged”, which means that non member states of the Council of Europe can also join the ECML. The ECML comes under the Department of Educationundefined, which is part of the Directorate General of Democracy. Resolution (94) 10undefined established the ECML for a pilot phase until December 1997. It further stipulated that an external evaluation group should assess the performance of the ECML during this period. Based on the positive recommendations of this evaluation, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europeundefined adopted Resolution (98) 11undefined in July 1998 to make it a permanent institution. This resolution sets out the aims and objectives of the ECML, defines its structures and describes the composition and tasks of each body.

The ECML is in line with the European Cultural Convention, adopted on 19 December 1954 in Paris (France). This Convention set itself the objective of “developing mutual understanding between the peoples of Europe and reciprocal appreciation of their cultural diversity, safeguarding European culture, promoting national contributions to the common cultural heritage of Europe, while respecting the same fundamental values, by encouraging, in particular, the study of the languages, history and civilisation of the Parties to the Convention”.

The ECML subscribes to a holistic vision for language education, which places language at the heart of all learning and which embraces all languages, and all educational sectors and players as outlined in Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)1 on the importance of plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture

Mission
The ECML's mission is to foster excellence and innovation in language education and to support its member statesundefined in implementing effective language education policies. To this end, the Centre cooperates with national decision-makers and language experts to develop innovative, research-based solutions to current challenges in the fieldundefined.

ECML programme of activities and projects
The focus of the programmes is determined by the member states and reflects national priorities, emerging trends and new challenges in language education. The programme, coordinated by the ECML, covers a four-year period. It consists of:


 * a development strand which aims to provide responses to the issues identified; and
 * a mediation strand, with tailor-made training and consultancy activities for member states, as well as initiatives targeted at a wider public such as the European Day of Languages, conferences and webinars.

ECML thematic areas
The ECML's work and resources are based around nine thematic pillars:


 * teacher and learner competences ,
 * plurilingual and intercultural educationundefined,
 * early language learning ,
 * languages of schoolingundefined,
 * Content and language integrated learning ,
 * curricula and evaluation ,
 * migrant education and employment ,
 * new media in language education ,
 * sign languages.

European Day of Languages
At the initiative of the Council of Europe, the European Day of Languages has been celebrated every year since 2001 on 26 September – in collaboration with the European Commission.

The ECML coordinates this Day in close cooperation with the national relaysundefined of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe.

The member states
The official bodies of the 35 ECML member states:


 * the ECML Governing Board is the executive body of the Centre;
 * the ECML National Nominating Authorities are responsible for appointing national experts to the Centre's activities;
 * the ECML National Contact Points contribute to the dissemination of project achievements and information on the Centre's work through national networks;
 * the Austrian Association (Verein EFSZ in Österreich) manages the ECML's infrastructure in Graz (Austria) and relations between the Centre and the Austrian authorities.

Cooperation with the European Commission
The partnership between the ECML and the European Commission, first initiated in 2013, provides professional training opportunities for language experts in member states [archive] of the ECML and the European Union.

Cooperation with the Professional Network Forum
The ECML works in partnership with a large number of international non governmental associations and institutions in the field of language education and evaluation through its Professional Network Forumundefined which allows for the exchange of expertise. The members of the Forum are:


 * American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL),
 * International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA),
 * Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE),
 * CEuropean Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education (CercleS),
 * European Association for Language Testing and Assessment (EALTA),
 * Evaluation and Accreditation of Quality Language Services (EAQUALS),
 * European Civil Society Platform for Multilingualism (ECSPM),
 * Education, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (EDiLiC),
 * Conseil européen pour les langues/European Language Council (CEL/ELC),
 * European Federation of National Institutions for Language (EFNIL),
 * European Parents' Association (EPA),
 * European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC),
 * International Federation of Modern Language Teachers (FIPLV),
 * International Association of Multilingualism (IAM),
 * International Certificate Conference e.V. (ICC),
 * Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) of the University of Ottawa.

Cooperation with the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) of the University of Ottawa
Since the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation and Liaison on 22 January 2008, the ECML and the University of Ottawa (through OLBI) have been cooperating closely to ensure the dissemination of the ECML's work in Canada and to involve Canadian experts in its activities and projects.

This includes projects related to the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Cooperation with the Language Network Graz
The Language Network Graz (German: Sprachen Netzwerk Graz) was founded in 2007 on the initiative of the Austrian Association of the European Centre for Modern Languages (German: Verein Europäisches Fremdsprachenzentrum in Österreich). It brings together leading regional and local organisations in the field of education and culture to promote multilingualism and linguistic diversity through joint initiatives, such as the annual language festival in Graz.

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