Mandate for the Expert Group for Nordic Language Cooperation
Background
The Nordic Council of Ministers for Education and Research (MR-U) has the main responsibility for Nordic language co-operation. The Nordic Council of Ministers for Culture (MR-K) also has a sectoral responsibility for the language area.
The focus areas for language co-operation in the education sector are described in MR-Us’ co-operation program (2015):
Strengthen children and young people’s mutual understanding of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, among other things by promoting the understanding of spoken Danish, Norwegian and Swedish.
Strengthen the national follow-up of the Declaration on Nordic Language Policy (the Language Declaration)
The Committee of Senior Officials for Education and Research (EK-U) is a steering group for the portfolio of tasks and services that are coordinated through Nordic Language Coordination, and which is financed via budget item 2-2544 Nordic language co-operation .
In 2017, this budget item includes the following tasks and services:
Nordic language coordination (administration and initiatives)
The expert group for Nordic language co-operation
Program for language courses (Nordkurs, Nordspråk and the Nordic pearl course for teacher students)
Nordic language pilots
The network for the language committees in the Nordic countries
The steering group can change:
the agreement between the Nordic Council of Ministers and the executive body for Nordic language coordination,
the total amount framework for budget item 2-2544,
the composition of tasks and services
the distribution of funds
focus area
The steering group approves work plans and annual reports and decides whether and in what form an evaluation of the business is to be implemented.
EK-U decided on a mandate for the Expert Group for Nordic Language Cooperation on 14 September 2016.
Tasks of the expert group
The expert group will take care of the function as a professional reference group for the portfolio of tasks and services that are coordinated through Nordic language coordination, and which is financed via budget item 2-2544 Nordic language co-operation . The expert group must be able to act as both advisory and consultative and at the same time contribute to the profiling and communication work.
The expert group will contribute to the strategic development of Nordic language co-operation, including helping to identify the needs for targeted measures in the countries and the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland, and how the Nordic perspective and Nordic efforts are linked to national measures. . The expert group will thus be able to contribute to formulating the connection in the Nordic language co-operation.
The expert group shall contribute to ensuring the quality of the business covered by the portfolio. The Expert Group does this through ongoing dialogue with Nordic language coordination and the actors during the planning and development of the business. The expert group shall comment on work plans and annual reports for the activities within the portfolio before these are submitted to the steering group via the Nordic Council of Ministers’ secretariat. The expert group must in the same way be able to comment on project descriptions and professional reports before they are presented to EK-U and / or EK-K.
The expert group will contribute to the profiling and communication work. This can be done, for example, by disseminating information in national networks, giving lectures and participating in debates in relevant professional contexts or by writing articles that highlight interesting results from Nordic language co-operation across its breadth.
Cooperation with Nordic language coordination and the actors
The expert group has an important role in the strategic development of language cooperation. The agreement between the Nordic Council of Ministers and the executive body states that Nordic Language Coordination must use the Expert Group «partly to obtain the necessary professional advice, which via the members of the reference group covers the whole of the Nordic region, and partly to ensure coherence between activities across services» .
The professional advice includes the overall portfolio of tasks and services that are coordinated through Nordic language coordination. It also includes assessing current efforts in a cross-sectoral perspective and assessing how they can contribute to strengthening the connection between activities across sectors. The counseling can also include how to best work with the target group of children and young people.
Nordic Language Coordination will provide secretarial assistance to the Expert Group for Nordic Language Co-operation.
The expert group appoints its own chairman.
The collaboration with Nordplus
Nordic language coordination will collect relevant experiences and results from Nordplus (primarily Nordplus Nordic Languages and Nordplus Junior) and contribute to making examples of good results known and useful in sectors and disciplines working for and with children and young people’s language skills and – interest in a broad sense. The expert group must be able to contribute to identifying both relevant results and relevant target groups for information about these in the countries and the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland.
The Nordplus administration and the Nordplus program committee can seek expert advice from the Expert Group for Nordic Language Cooperation if necessary, for example in connection with the processing of applications to Nordplus or in connection with development and communication work such as Nordplus contact seminars with language themes etc.
Quality assurance of activities related to the cultural sector
The expert group for Nordic co-operation can, if necessary, consult the experts for the arts and culture program in the work of ensuring the quality of activities that either involve cultural actors, or that are important to the cultural sector’s actors.
The Nordic cultural programs can, if necessary, consult the Expert Group for Nordic Language Co-operation on issues concerning children and young people’s language comprehension.
Quality assurance of activities aimed at children and young people
The expert group can, if necessary, consult the Nordic Committee for Children and Young People in the work of ensuring the quality of activities aimed at the target group of children and young people.
The Nordic Children and Youth Committee may, if necessary, consult the Expert Group for Nordic Language Co-operation on issues concerning children and young people’s language comprehension.
The expert group as an advisory body
Through its advice, the expert group will contribute to achieving the overall objectives of Nordic language co-operation.
The Nordic Council of Ministers (MR-U / EK-U and MR-K / EK-K) may, if necessary, ask the Expert Group for Nordic Language Co-operation for advice.
Members of the Expert Group
EK-U appoints members and deputies to the Expert Group.
An updated overview of members and deputies will be available on the Nordic Language Coordination’s website: www.sprogkoordinationen.org
Budget
EK-U decided on 14 September 2016 that the Expert Group for Nordic Language Cooperation will allocate DKK 200,000 annually for meeting activities in the period 2017-2018. The expert group has the opportunity to transfer funds from one year to the next within the framework of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ financial regulations.
EK-U decided on 11 September 2013 that remuneration of individual members shall be possible in special cases, such as a freelance cultural worker. Consultation of experts can also be remunerated. Remuneration must be considered in each individual case. Any fees shall be covered within the Expert Group’s budget framework.
Term of office
The term of office for the Expert Group for Nordic Language Cooperation is 2017-2018.
An evaluation of the organization of the activities in the language area is carried out in the period 2016-2017. The evaluation takes place as part of the preparation of a possible new program period for Nordic language coordination. The evaluation is carried out by an external evaluator.