Such collections facilitate the interaction among past and current Good Practice project agents and experts as well as future project planners, allowing for the assessment of lessons learned from previous experience, and for a much-needed knowledge transfer and dissemination.

Purpose

The purpose of the Register of Good Practices in Language Preservation, a project of UNESCO's Endangered Languages Programme, is to identify, document, and render visible as well as accessible past and current practices that have proven to be successful in the protection of languages and language communities.
Our goal is to collect a diverse body of experience reports in order to provide a rich source of creative and innovative approaches to problem-solving, proven solutions, practical information, lessons learned, helpful hints, do's and don't's, and adaptable models, to empower project agents in their efforts for sustainable language preservation.

Languages are an essential part of the living heritage of humanity; contributing to the safeguarding of those languages that are endangered is a central component of UNESCO's mission to protect and promote cultural diversityand intangible cultural heritage.

Successes big and small

Language preservation is a difficult task. Each language reflects a unique world-view and culture complex, and thus represents an essential part of living human heritage; yet experts estimate that today, over 50% of the world's 6000 languages are in danger of extinction. External forces like military, economic, religious, cultural or educational subjugation, but also internal factors such as attitude changes – all these continue to put linguistic diversity under pressure, and create obstacles in its preservation.
This is why UNESCO's Endangered Languages Programme recognizes that any success at all, whether it be small or big, is of great value in the endeavour to safeguard the world's endangered languages.
Whether it is the strengthening of language competence in an individual, or the installation of a whole elementary school programme, the fostering of a speech community's feeling of pride, the promotion of a language's recognition, the establishment of networks within and across communities, building teaching capacities, changing attitudes, transmitting knowledge, creating a single job, providing access to cyberspace, or even causing a change in legislation, etc. – any form, scope, and level of success is worth sharing with others, and shall be reflected in our database, to draw lessons from the past and provide encouragement for the future.

Submission to the Register

We solicit the submission of case reports on any form of community-based projects concerning language preservation -
e.g. reports on local/ regional projects in education, revitalisation, standardisation, community development, awareness raising, capacity building, documentation, use of new technologies, etc.
[Note: These can be projects that do not focus on language exclusively but include language as one aspect among their concerns]

Find the Submission Form at the end of this page (project document)

In order for our Register project to be successful and to provide the service intended, as many submissions as possible need to be collected. Please support the project by forwarding the link to this website to any interested party you know about.

What can YOU get out of it?

The Register of Good Practices of Language Preservation was conceived, on the one hand, as a consolidated source of experience-based knowledge for persons engaging in projects to protect endangered languages, but also as a tool to enhance the visibility and recognition of revitalisation efforts throughout the world.

As SUBMITTER to the Register, you can thus ensure that your project will be visible and accessible to a broad audience via its recognition and publication on UNESCO's web portal, which records over 10 million hits on average every month. Increased visibility and public recognition, in direct relation to publication on a UNESCO website, are powerful tools in both networking and fundraising efforts of community-based and/ or academic projects.

Submitters ensure the subsistence of our Register and its success. Language preservation must be a joint effort if it is to be durable; by sharing their practical knowledge and passing on their experiences, Submitters make a vital contribution to the promotion of language preservation efforts world-wide, and thus to stemming the tide of language eradication.

As USER of the Register, you will be able to follow in the footsteps of past and present project agents, gaining a broader understanding of the contexts and realities of language preservation, and tapping into the accumulated tried-and-tested knowledge and models of adaptable practice-based solutions.
In addition, contacting information will enable the setting up of networks of language preservation agents and experts, as well as allow for a matching of knowledge supply and demand. The knowledge transfer thus achieved is a powerful tool in the process of safeguarding the world's languages.

Future Development of the Register (planned)

Following the collection of Good Practice reports, the Register will be equipped with a search tool to allow users to retrieve Good Practices information at their convenience and according to thematic areas, and to enable further matching of knowledge supply and demand as well as direct information exchange via project contact information.

In conceptual stage:
- A Report analysing the information provided in the Register and distilling identifiable trends, issues, and approaches to practice-based solutions.  Back to the Top

Lead Organization / Sector / Office UNESCO Paris, CLT/CH/ITH

Start Date 2004-10-06 8:40 am

End Date 2005-12-06 8:40 am Redirection