COTANCE, partner of the CELAN project
The CELAN project, co-funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission, started officially on 1 January 2011, with a duration of 24 months. The project’s principal objective is to facilitate a dialogue in the language field between the business community and language practitioners. The project activities include:
Research on linguistic needs of European companies/SMEs in different sectors
Analysis of existing language-related services and tools
Development of on-line applications to support the language needs of business users
A strong and broad consortium - all members of the Business Platform for Multilingualism or linked to a member - will engage in dissemination and awareness raising activities to guarantee a Europe-wide reach-out.
CELAN is the result of a long development of language policies at EU level. Its direct origin is the Business Platform for Multilingualism, initiated in September 2009 by DG Education and Culture. Stakeholders in business - industry representatives, companies, associations, trade unions, language industry representatives etc. - discussed the need for an enhanced awareness of the importance of languages in business. From these discussions stems the core idea of CELAN: create a network that provides language services to business stakeholders.
On Friday, 11 February, the CELAN project was launched, with the participation of 18 partner representatives. The Work Package leaders presented the objectives and activities, and all the partners collaborated in drafting a first implementation plan with concrete time lines and milestones to be reached.
Mr Gustavo Gonzalez-Quijano, Secretary General of COTANCE, is leader of Work Package I in which business needs will be determined. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the Business Platform for Multilingualism.
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