On 21 and 22 September 2023, Fryske Akademy/Mercator researchers Hans Van de Velde, Charlie Robinson-Jones, and Nelleke IJssennagger-van der Pluijm, along with other colleagues, presented at the conference Lingue “minori”, opportunità maggiori: i risultati del progetto COLING nell’area Grecanica (Minority languages, major opportunities: the results of the COLING project in the Grecanic area). This marked the end of a Horizon 2020 project on the promotion and development of sustainable measures for language revitalisation and maintenance.
The conference, held in the historic villages of Gallicianò and Bova in Calabria, brought together over 30 attendees from Italy and across Europe, including researchers and locals, who are working to support and safeguard the Greko minority in collaboration with the GAL Area Grecanica. We proudly congratulate the following researchers from the Fryske Akademy/Mercator who presented their research on the Greko language, culture, and traditions:
- Hans Van de Velde: The fading linguistic landscape of Greko and Greek
- Charlie Robinson-Jones: Qual è il ruolo dei paesaggi linguistici nei musei che rappresentano le minoranze linguistiche? – il caso del Museo della Lingua Greco-Calabra “Gerhard Rohlfs” (What is the role of linguistic landscapes in museums representing linguistic minorities? – the case of the “Gerhard Rohlfs” Museum of the Calabrian-Greek Language)
- Nelleke IJssennagger-van der Pluijm: The longer history of minority cultures in Europe: A case study of Calabrian-Greeks and the dynamics of the Norman period
- Jim Slemmer (intern, Utrecht University): Cosa possiamo fare per il Greko? (What can we do for Greko?)
- Alexandra Has (intern, University of Groningen): VLOG Alexandra in Calabria
- Didier Demolin: The making of a lyre (a traditional Calabrian musical instrument)
Other key members of the COLING project consortium, including the GAL Area Grecanica and the University of Warsaw, also presented their research findings and outputs, such as Greko teaching materials and a documentary on To Ddomadi Greko (The Greko Week – a summer school dedicated to the Greko language, culture, and people).
The full conference programme can be found here.