Nitobe Center
Nitobe Centre For Language Democracy
The Nitobe Centre For Language Democracy was developed to raise questions about international communication and egalitarian language policy. The Centre also coordinates an activist network to work in this area.
A specific focus of the The Nitobe Centre is to raise the level and intensity of public and political debate over language policy in a unifying Europe, with a view to developing a common, constructive, realistic language policy framework that would balance the protection and celebration of linguistic diversity with the need for effective, high-quality communication amongst all the citizens of the EU.
The Centre was inspired by a conference series (the Nitobe Symposium) organized in the years 1996-2007 by the Centre for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems. These conferences brought together activists, academics, bureaucrats and politicians to examine the linguistic dimensions of European integration and globalization. The fourth Symposium (July 30 - August 1, 2005, in Vilnius, Lithuania) drew particular attention to the need for broader and more informed discussion of issues of language and communication in all of the member states of the EU.
Here is the complete list of Nitobe Symposiums:
Nitobe Symposium 5, Tokio, Japanio
Dates: 2a - 3a de aŭgusto 2007
Theme: Europaj lingvoj kaj aziaj nacioj: pasinteco, politiko, potencialo
Concluding document: Nitobe5
Lecturers: E.Annamalai (IN), Richard B. Baldauf Jr.(AU), Probal Dasgupta (IN), Feng Zhiwei (CN), Mark Fettes (CA), Kimura Goro Christoph (JP), Robert Phillipson (DK), Timothy Reagan (US), Tove Skutnabb-Kangas (DK), Humphrey Tonkin (US), Usui Hiroyuki (JP) k.a.
More information: http://www.info.sophia.ac.jp/ei/nitobe2007.htm
Nitobe Symposium 4, Vilnius , Lithuania
Dates: July 30th -
Theme: Aspects of the language politics of expansion of the European Union
Concluding document: Nitobe4 [http://nitobe.info/ld/dokumentujo/dokumento.php?id=33]
Lecturers: Humphrey Tonkin (US), Mark Fettes (CA), Robert Phillipson (DK), Francois Grin (CH), Philippe van Parijs (BE)
Nitobe Symposium 3, Beijing , China
Dates:
Theme: To a new international language order
Concluding document: Nitobe3
Lecturers: Prof. Dr. Humphrey TONKIN (US), Dr. KOBAYASHI Tukasa (JP), YANG Guang (CN), Michael CWIK (EU), Prof. SU Jinzhi (CN), Noel MUYLLE (EU), Prof. LIU Haitao (CN), MIYOSHI Etsuo (JP), Kimiko SCHWERIN (EU), Prof. Dr. LEE Chong-Yeong (KR)
More information: Al nova internacia lingva ordo / Towards a New International Language Order
Nitobe Symposium 2, Berlin , Germany
Dates:
Theme: Globalisation and language diversity
Lecturers: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Ammon, Dr. Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Prof. Claude Piron, Prof. Dr. Florian Coulmas, Mrs. Emma Bonino
Nitobe Symposium 1, Prague , Czech Republic
Dates:
Theme: Towards linguistic democracy
Concluding document: Nitobe1
Representatives: UN, UNESCO, EU, NGO:s
More information: Al lingva demokratio / Towards Linguistic Democracy / Vers la démocratie linguistique