A focus group of the ‘CrossTerm - Crossborder standardisation of institutional terminology’ project, co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia 2021-2027 Programme, takes place in Udine.
‘Analysis of needs and good practices in the field of Friulian-language operations in public administration’ was the title of the focus group, organised by the Regional Agency for the Friulian Language ARLeF, which was held on 29 August, as part of ‘CrossTerm’ project in which ARLeF is a partner along with, among others, the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, with the involvement of three Friulian municipalities. The lead partner of the project is the Slovene Research Institute (SLORI); the other partners are the Coastal Self-Governing Community of the Italian Nationality (CAN Costiera), the Centre for Language Resources and Technology of the University of Ljubljana (CJVT) and the Centre for Scientific Research in Koper (CRS Koper). Also participating in the project are 22 associated partners, including the Friulian-speaking municipalities.
The focus group was hosted at the Udine headquarters of the FVG Autonomous Region. It was attended by desk assistants, language operators, translators and experts in the Friulian language who are in contact with the public administration and work at ARLeF, at the ARLeF Sportello Friulano and in the offices of the partner municipalities associated with the project (Codroipo, Gemona del Friuli and Udine). They were welcomed by the president of ARLeF, Eros Cisilino, and the director, William Cisilino, before the work began. The aim of the meeting was to examine the activities of the language desks in the application of bilingualism in public administration, to compare working models, but also to examine problems and identify possible solutions. The focus group was moderated by Linda Picco with the support of Elena Zanussi, both from ARLeF. Thanks to the discussion, it was possible to highlight strengths and good practices but also to reflect on some critical issues. In this regard, a series of improvement proposals were prepared on the sidelines of the round table. What emerged during the focus group will be presented at the joint meeting to be held in October in Koper, at which the results of the similar meetings organised by CAN Costiera and the Central Office for the Slovenian Language of the FVG Region will also be discussed.
In fact, the CrossTerm project faces a particularly important cross-border challenge, tackling the lack of effectiveness in the joint management of linguistic diversity in public administration, with the aim of improving the quality and efficiency of language services in the public administration through shared strategies, models and tools that enable standardisation and promote a more coherent and effective use.
In order to do this, thanks to the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme 2021-2027, the partners in the cross-border area are dialoguing on common topics or topics of common interest, aiming at the creation of collaborations and realising useful activities also in the future.
CrossTerm, as was explained during the focus group, will bring about a radical change in the multilingual operations of the public administration, which will have at its disposal a shared strategy document aimed at improving the quality of language services, a jointly developed model for cross-border terminology standardisation, as well as efficient and user-friendly ICT tools for the target groups.
