Six months after the 4th ECML-EC Summer Academy, eight transnational projects are now underway, initiated by the international networks formed during the Academy. In a follow-up online meeting on 6 February 2026, 23 of the 30 participants from different countries across Europe, together with 5 experts, presented these projects and discussed their ongoing development. The eight projects cover diverse topics, reflecting the themes explored at the Summer Academy.

The ECML-EC Summer Academy is an annual professional development initiative for teacher educators in foreign languages, organised within the framework of the ongoing cooperation between the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) and the European Commission.

The call for the ECML-EC Summer Academy 2026 is now open (deadline: 20 April 2026). One nomination per country is accepted. Interested teacher educators are invited to contact their national nominating authority.

ECML full news item
Draft programme 2026
Dedicated ECML website

On 4 December 2025, the ECML-European Commission colloquium in Graz brought together experts, policymakers and practitioners from across Europe to highlight the value of regional and minority languages (RMLs) in secondary education, showcasing innovative teaching approaches, policy developments and classroom experiences in multilingual settings. Through keynotes, panels and case studies, participants shared transferable best practices and examined benefits such as stronger cultural identity, greater social cohesion and improved inclusion of newcomer learners. The event strengthened cross-country cooperation, identified emerging professional needs, and will inform future ECML projects and research to further enhance RML teaching and learning.

Recording and presentations
ECML full news item
Council of Europe full news item (4 December 2025)

International Mother Language Day, celebrated each year on 21 February and proclaimed by UNESCO, highlights linguistic diversity and the essential role of home languages in identity, inclusion, and educational success. The theme for the 2026 edition is “Youth voices for multilingual education”. It emphasizes the role of young people in shaping the future of multilingual education by advocating for education systems that recognize and value every learner’s linguistic repertoire. International Mother Tongue Day shares important similarities with the European Day of Languages of the Council of Europe, celebrated on 26 September. Both promote linguistic diversity and intercultural dialogue, while focusing on different priorities.Across Europe, celebrations are often organised in schools and libraries, and many resources are available to help educational institutions mark the Day.

Full article and selected teaching resources

As part of the 2025 ECML initiative “An anthem for the European Day of Languages”, schools, organisations, associations, and language enthusiasts were invited to perform the multilingual song “Voices of Europe”.
Discover the amazing performances celebrating linguistic diversity, creativity, and the joy of learning languages, as well as our final compilation video on the dedicated web page.
Our warmest thanks go to everyone who contributed to this wonderful project!

There was a very impressive response to the contest to design the 2026 EDL t-shirt – with over 2 000 entries. Congratulations to the winner of the design contest, Maria Beatriz Castro from Portugal.
“This drawing represents the power of language diversity. It can open minds and hearts. Knowing several languages helps to break down barriers and brings people together, which is why I chose to make it half heart, half brain. The face in the heart shows the power of words in our hearts and minds. Embracing language diversity is the first step to value all human beings and cultures as unique, bringing us closer to a society where respect for the others prevails.” Maria Beatriz Castro

T-shirts can be ordered with our partner spreadshirts.com for the European Day of Language.

Dedicated web page

“Digitale Teilhabe und Mehrsprachigkeit stärken – Ressourcen des Europäischen Fremdsprachenzentrums des Europarats”

At the DaFWEBKON online conference for teachers of German as a foreign language (28-30 January 2026), Susanna Slivensky (ECML, Council of Europe) showed how language education supports digital citizenship and democratic culture. Teachers can use free ECML resources like E-LANG Citizen and the ICT-REV tools database for language teaching and learning

Online presentation in German (28 January 2026, 23′:25”)
Full ECML news item

At the Council of Europe’s 3rd Working Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education, ECML experts Aline Germain-Rutherford and Jackie Robbins showcased the AI for Language Education and ICT-REV projects, highlighting practical, responsible, and ethical integration of AI and ICT tools in language teaching and learning. They also shared insights from workshops designed for language educators across Europe, underlining key challenges and opportunities in maintaining teacher and learner agency in the age of artificial intelligence.

Conference website
Full ECML news item

3-4 March 2026
Workshop “A toolkit for implementing integrated didactics in language education”
Working languages: English and French
Profile of participants: www.ecml.at/integrateddidactics

25-26 March 2026
Workshop “Fostering the plurilingual wellbeing of language teachers”
Working languages: English and French
Profile of participants: www.ecml.at/pluriwell

14-15 April 2026
Workshop “Using ECML resources to support plurilingual and intercultural education for democratic culture”
Working languages: English and German<
Profile of participants: www.ecml.at/arpide

19-20 May 2026
Workshop “Pluriliteracies for global citizenship – Deeper learning in the foreign language classroom”
Working languages: English and French
Profile of participants: www.ecml.at/deeperlearning

24-25 November 2026
Workshop “Developing competences for democratic culture for young learners through language education”
Working languages: English and German
Profile of participants: www.ecml.at/decode

How can you get involved?

Individuals with a special interest and professional background in the topic of a particular project can take up contact with their national nominating authority to be considered for nomination tothe corresponding project workshop.

A workshop for ECML national nominating authorities and ECML national contact points will take place on 11-12 June 2026.

ECML-EC joint action: a series of 20 workshops scheduled for 2026

A series of national workshops will take place within the “Innovative methodologies and assessment in language learning” cooperation action between the ECML and the European Commission. The ICT-REV, RELANG, and Supporting Multilingual Classrooms workshops will be hosted in the following countries:

ICT-REV: Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Spain* and Sweden. (*negotiations ongoing)
ICT-REV promotes a pedagogically-based use of ICT tools and open resources in support of quality language teaching and learning, including online and blended learning settings.

RELANG: Armenia, Austria, Cyprus, Czechia and Spain-Basque country.
RELANG focuses on relating foreign/second language curricula, tests and examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Supporting Multilingual Classrooms: Czechia, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic and Spain-Ceuta. 
Supporting Multilingual Classrooms focuses on the linguistic integration of migrant learners in schools across Europe.

For more details on workshop dates and venues, please visit the respective ICT-REV, RELANG, Supporting Multilingual Classrooms event page.

The project “Unlocking educational opportunities in sign languages in Europe” (DeafSign) (2024-2027) aims to promote sign language learning opportunities in Europe. It will provide guidelines and resources that help policymakers and education professionals support inclusive, high-quality sign language learning in early childhood and adult education.
To advance knowledge and exchange in this field, the DeafSign team is launching a series of activities in 2026. An online workshop on 13 February 2026 focused on sign language learning opportunities for Deaf Children of Deaf Adults (DODA). The session explored the current situation of sign language learning for DODA, available research and knowledge, and existing good practices in this field.
The project is also conducting a Europe-wide mapping survey on access to sign language learning. Policymakers and education professionals are invited to contribute to a short anonymous survey (open until 27 February 2026) addressing learning opportunities for deaf children and their hearing families, as well as heritage signers (CODA/DODA).

Invitation of the DeafSign team
Description and link to the survey
Project website (International Sign Language, English)

The ECML project “AI for Language Education” (2024-27) has made significant strides in developing both its ethical guidelines and Moodle course following the November 2025 workshop in Graz. The Moodle course has been refined based on peer feedback, clarifying target groups (language teachers), adding explanatory texts, and introducing sections on CLIL, mediation, and teacher professional development. The next phase will expand these chapters with additional examples of best practice, feeding into the upcoming network meeting at the European Centre for Modern Languages on 9-10 April 2026.

The project’s guidelines now focus on four core principles for AI use in language education: safe, responsible, purposeful, and reflective use. Ethical considerations address both societal challenges, such as equity and environmental sustainability, and classroom-level pedagogical integration.

Recent events – including a research seminar at the University of Rouen Normandie and the Winter School at the University for Foreigners of Perugia – provided forums to present the updated framework, discuss practical classroom applications, and gather feedback from teachers, researchers, and policymakers.

Full ECML news items:
Progress on the AI Lang guidelines and the Moodle course
Research seminar at the University of Rouen Normandie (23 January 2026)
AI Lang at Winter School, University for Foreigners of Perugia

The DECODE project successfully met its 2025 milestones, delivering concrete results including a template for collecting Competences for Democratic Culture (CDC) teaching materials, examples of CDC-based language activities for young learners, a teacher feedback and evaluation form on the implementation of CDC materials, and a peer-reviewed book chapter in an edited volume by IGI Global.
An online implementation meeting in November brought together European teachers and teacher educators to present materials and agree on piloting steps, with school pilots scheduled for March to August 2026.

Full news item
Project website (English, French, German)

The ECML project team met in Graz (1-2 December 2025) to plan next steps. Core materials are now ready for translation into German, and a dedicated project website is on the way.
In the course of 2026, teachers will find on the ECML website a teacher’s guide (in English and German), design principles for creating their own SDG focused CLIL materials (in English and German), a glossary of key concepts (in English and German), 16 sets of lesson ideas in English, 2 sets of lesson ideas in German, clear descriptions of all lesson sets in both English and German.

Full ECML news item
ECML project website (English, French, German)

In 2026, the ECML’s Training and Consultancy (TaC) activities will deliver targeted, in-country support aligned with member states’ language education priorities, with 25 selected activities taking place across 22 countries – from 32 requests submitted by 21 states. These initiatives cover key themes such as CEFR mediation, plurilingual and intercultural education, languages of schooling, pluriliteracies beyond CLIL, action research, digital citizenship and language-rich learning environments, and are prepared through close cooperation between ECML experts and national organisers. In addition, around 20 further TaC activities will be carried out under the ECML–European Commission cooperation framework, focusing on multilingual classrooms, ICT and AI integration, and CEFR-linked curricula and assessment.

Full ECML news item

From the first meeting in Graz to international workshops, ECML training activities, and widely used resources across Europe, ARC has made a real impact. Here is a short overview of ARC’s 10-year journey and achievements, shared by Christine Lechner:
“2026 marks 10 years of Action Research Communities for language teachers. We have come a long way since the first meeting in Graz in early 2016 when the team met to brainstorm ideas to maximize on the exciting opportunity to build a project on action research.
Towards the end of the year we held the first workshop in Graz with participants from all ECML member states, which was followed by workshops in Sibiu and Reykjavic and a network meeing at the ECML. Everything we learnt from these experiences contributed to the development of interactive action research tools (www.ecml.at/actionresearch). Since 2020 we have run 14 Training and Consultancy in 10 countries with another one coming up.
Last year Angela Gallagher-Brett and Jane O’Toole ran a very successful event in Belgrade and the team presented the project at the CARN Conference.”

Join and follow the Action Research Community for Language Teacher group on Facebook
More information on this ECML training and consultancy offer for member states

Denmark – Strengthening the language(s) of schooling in Danish schools – a whole-school approach (Aarhus, 26-27 November 2025)

The ROADMAP workshop brought together school leaders, teachers, municipal consultants, and national stakeholders from Denmark to promote a whole-school approach to language development across subjects and professional roles. Through expert input, collaborative work, and practical tools, participants applied a structured whole-school approach that directly supports strategic planning, school self-assessment, and sustainable improvement. They gained ready-to-use self-assessment instruments and concrete practice examples to help translate policy goals into daily teaching. The training also strengthened cooperation between subject teachers and improved dialogue between schools, municipalities, and national authorities, providing a solid basis for inclusive, language-aware school development and effective local follow-up.

Full ECML news item
ECML activities in Denmark
More information about this ECML offer for member states and workshops in other member states

Austria – Understanding new concepts – paving the way for further innovation (Schlierbach, 2-3 December 2025)

What is mediation in language education? And how can plurilingualism, pluriculturalism and action-orientation as presented in the CEFR Companion Volume be meaningfully integrated into teaching practice? These key questions were explored during a two-day ECML training and consultancy event, as part of the national network meeting of language teachers at upper secondary vocational colleges in Austria.
Discover highlights and insights from the event here.

ECML activities in Austria
More information about this ECML training and consultancy offer and workshops in other member states

The training workshop was designed to support access to quality education for migrant learners and help bridge attainment gaps. The event offered 27 school principals and other educational actors from school clusters practical strategies and approaches, shared learning opportunities, and fresh perspectives on language-aware schooling, to foster multilingualism as an added value, enhance inclusion, and respond more effectively to the realities of diverse school communities.

Full ECML news item
ECML activities in Portugal
More information about “Supporting Multilingual Classrooms” events in other member states

Austria provides an illustrative case of how the ECML’s Roadmap tool to support the language(s) of schooling can be embedded in national school development initiatives. The “Language sensitive school development” project of the Austrian Language Competence Centre (ÖSZ) started in 2024 on behalf of the Austrian Ministry of Education. It began with an ECML training and consultancy event in November 2024 for the first cycle of lower secondary schools from the regions Styria, Lower Austria, Carinthia, and has now entered its second cycle with a new group of schools from the regions of Upper Austria, Salzburg and Burgenland.

Watch the video recently produced by ÖSZ relating to the experience on Language Sensitivity in Austrian Schools in 2025 (5′:23”)
ÖSZ web section dedicated to language sensitive education Related ÖSZ news item (in English)
ECML activities in Austria

The Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute (OLBI) and the CCERBAL Research Centre continued their partnership with the ECML through joint knowledge-sharing and outreach activities in 2024 and 2025:

• participation in the ECML-EC Think tank “Fostering motivation in language education: what role for decision-makers and educators?” (Graz, Austria, 4 December 2024);
• contribution to the Professional Network Forum by presenting CCERBAL research and highlighting Canadan-nominated experts involved as associate partners in ECML projects;
• ECML contribution to the first Carrefour francophone : savoirs et pratiques event (University of Ottawa, 12-13 May 2025), which gathered nearly 50 academics, students, and federal public servants.

Annual report 2024-2025 of OLBI (University of Ottawa, 2025) – highlighting ECML cooperation on page 14 and 16
ECML expertise and activities in Canada

ECML Workshop “AI Lang” 2025: Reflections from a French teacher

On 25-26 November 2025 in Graz, the ECML project “AI Lang: AI for language education” (2024-27) brought together 38 language teachers and teacher trainers. Among them, Hervé Fleury, an English teacher from the Rennes academy involved in digital education, shares a highly positive workshop experience and its stimulating impact on his professional network.

France Éducation International interview (published January 2026)
See also the article « AI Lang – L’intelligence artificielle au service de l’éducation aux langues » (February 2025)
Photo credit: France Éducation International

LISEO: recent resources

LISEO is the documentary portal of France Education International (the national contact point for the ECML for France). It provides resources in the field of education, teaching and promotion of French around the world.

Resources on education policies around the world: newsletter of 22 January 2026 – newsletter of 18 February 2026
Resources on language policies and language education: bibliography of 29 January 2026

« La langue des signes française et les Sourds », Langues et Cité, No. 34

Twenty years after Law 2005-102, known as the “disability law,” this issue provides an overview of current practices in French Sign Language. With a particular focus on education, it highlights the progress achieved as well as the challenges that remain in securing the rights of Deaf people.

Read the issue (in French)
All issues (in French)

Ollivier C. et al. (2025), Občané jako uživatelé jazyků – a digitálních technologií (E-LANG CITIZEN) [Citizens as users of languages and digital technology (2021)], Council of Europe (European Centre for Modern Languages), Graz, available at: www.ecml.at/elangcitizen.
Also available in English and French.

Ollivier C. and Janneau C. (2025), Rozvoj digitálního občanství a jazykových kompetencí [Developing digital citizenship and language competences (2023)], Council of Europe (European Centre for Modern Languages), Graz, available at: www.ecml.at/elangcitizen.
Translated into Czech by Anna Pilátová.
Also available in English and French.

Lara’s language journey across Europe
Polish version
Now available in 31 languages

Lara’s journey through Europe’s regional and minority languages
Polish version
Now available in 16 languages

New language versions of ECML resources: follow the developments here

Bonvin A. and Pruss M. (dir.) (2025), “From empirical research to foreign language classroom practice – and vice versa”, Babylonia – the Swiss Journal of Language Education, Volume 3, available at: https://babylonia.online/index.php/babylonia/issue/view/140.

Gardiner-Hyland F. and van den Hoven M. (2026), “Preparing for multilingual classrooms in Ireland: What do student teachers need to know?”, Education Sciences, Special Issue “Fostering educational equity through linguistically and culturally responsive education”, Volume 15(8), 1074, available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15081074.

Melo-Pfeifer S. and Ollivier C. (2025), “Assessing the plurilingual competence and plurilingual individuals’ skills and knowledge: similarities and divergences”, Frontiers in Communication, Volume 10: 1498940, available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1498940.

Převrátilová S. (2025), “Tandem language exchange as a space to foster plurilingualism in higher education: reflections on languages other than English” (2025), Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, pp. 1-18, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2025.2566382.

Stathopoulou M. (2025), “The ECML METLA project: Drawing upon the CEFRCV to support learners in reaching their plurilingual potential”, Research Papers in Language Teaching and Learning, Volume 15(1), pp. 71-86, available at: https://rpltl.eap.gr/images/2025/RPLTL15.pdf.

Stathopoulou M. and Melo-Pfeifer S. (2025), “The use of cross-linguistic mediation tasks in developing learners’ transversal competences”, Cahiers de l’ILOB / OLBI Journal, Volume 14, pp. 229-249, available at: https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/ilob/2025-v14-ilob010001/1117681ar/.

Stevkovska M. (2025), “The use of AI tools in the EFL classroom: teachers’ perspectives”, Educational Role of Language Journal, Volume 1(13) “Actions in Language Education”, pp. 95-107, available at: https://doi.org/10.36534/erlj.2025.01.12.

More articles and publications quoting the work of the ECML