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International audience ; The world is home to an extraordinary level of linguistic diversity, with roughly 7,000 languages currently spoken and signed. Yet this diversity is highly unstable and is being rapidly eroded through a series of complex and interrelated processes that result in or lead to language loss. The combination of monolingualism and networks of global trade languages that are increasingly technologized have led to over half of the world's population speaking one of only 13 languages. Such linguistic homogenization leaves in its wake a linguistic landscape that is increasingly endangered. A wide range of factors contribute to language loss and attrition. While some—such as natural disasters—are unique to particular language communities and specific geographical regions, many have similar origins and are common across endangered language communities around the globe. The harmful legacy of colonization and the enduring impact of disenfranchising policies relating to Indigenous and minority languages are at the heart of language attrition from New Zealand to Hawai'i, and from Canada to Nepal. Language loss does not occur in isolation, nor is it inevitable or in any way "natural." The process also has wide-ranging social and economic repercussions for the language communities in question. Language is so heavily intertwined with cultural knowledge and political identity that speech forms often serve as meaningful indicators of a community's vitality and social well-being. More than ever before, there are vigorous and collaborative efforts underway to reverse the trend of language loss and to reclaim and revitalize endangered languages. Such approaches vary significantly, from making use of digital technologies in order to engage individual and younger learners to community-oriented language nests and immersion programs. Drawing on diverse techniques and communities, the question of measuring the success of language revitalization programs has driven research forward in the areas of statistical ...

Honor the Earth is a Native environmental organization based on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota; their current geographic focus in on Pine Point, a small tribal community on the reservation. Their mission is to create awareness and support for Native environmental issues and to develop needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Native communities. They develop this by using music, the arts, the media, and indigenous wisdom to show people our joint dependency on the Earth. Currently, Honor the Earth focusses on 6 types of work (1) renewable energy, local food & other environmental projects in Native communities; (2) campaigns to protect our land and water from extreme extraction; (3) hosting large public art events; (4) creating popular and political education materials and developing curricula; (5) re-granting funds to other Native community-based organizations; (6) consulting with other organizations or tribal governments. This project plans attain a wide variety of objectives that all help the community take steps to betting itself. The most important of these objectives is to conduct individual surveys with a large variety of local people to better determine the wants and needs of the community. The second most important objective this project has is to hold community meetings on the potential for small-scale green industries and related activities in the area such as local food production, renewable energy, etc. Although these are to two most important objectives of this program some other goals are to paint a large mural in the school and at least 10 homes by 2016, install solar thermal panels for at least twenty homes by the end of 2015, and install 15 large raised-bed grow boxes in Pine Point village to enable people to grow some of their own food. A final task that this project will accomplish is collecting data and a detailed profile on the community that will assist the community with exploring the possibilities for developing small-scale green economic industries and inform plans for strong qualitative and quantitative research skills. ; Prepared in partnership with Honor the Earth by the Community Assistantship Program (CAP), which is administered by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) at the University of Minnesota.

In preparation for the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Meeting (COP21) in Paris, the government of China has announced that its GHG emissions will peak in 2030. Equally, it is committed to reduce by 2030 by 60-65% the intensity of its carbon usage in relationship to its gross domestic product (GDP), compared to 2005 levels. It will take on the responsibility to increase substantially its forest cover, and will ensure that by 2030 some 20% of its energy requirements will be covered by renewable energy. China's activities to create eco-cities must be seen as part of its contributions to low-carbon development with aim to mitigate climate change. Among the various support mechanisms which exist, to support low-carbon development, the Ministry of Housing, and Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD), is being supported by the European Union (EU) through the Europe-China Eco-Cities Link Project (EC Link). ; EC-Link Position Paper prepared for EC-Link Working Papers: edited by Florian Steinberg and Li Chunyan

The world's linguistic diversity, estimated at over 7,000 languages, is declining rapidly. As awareness about this has increased, so have responses from a number of stakeholders. In this study we present the results of the Global Survey of Revitalization Efforts carried out by a mixed methods approach and comparative analysis of revitalization efforts worldwide. The Survey included 30 questions, was administered online in 7 languages, and documented 245 revitalization efforts yielding some 40,000 bits of data. In this study, we report on frequency counts and show, among other findings, that revitalization efforts are heavily focused on language teaching, perhaps over intergenerational transmission of a language, and rely heavily on community involvement although do not only involve language community members exclusively. The data also show that support for language revitalization in the way of funding, as well as endorsement, is critical to revitalization efforts. This study also makes evident the social, cultural, political, and geographic gaps in what we know about revitalization worldwide. We hope that this study will strengthen broad interest and commitment to studying, understanding, and supporting language revitalization as an integral aspect of the history of human language in the 21st century. ; National Foreign Language Resource Center ; perez-baez_et_al.pdf

The world's linguistic diversity, estimated at over 7,000 languages, is declining rapidly. As awareness about this has increased, so have responses from a number of stakeholders. In this study we present the results of the Global Survey of Revitalization Efforts carried out by a mixed methods approach and comparative analysis of revitalization efforts worldwide. The Survey included 30 questions, was administered online in 7 languages, and documented 245 revitalization efforts yielding some 40,000 bits of data. In this study, we report on frequency counts and show, among other findings, that revitalization efforts are heavily focused on language teaching, perhaps over intergenerational transmission of a language, and rely heavily on community involvement although do not only involve language community members exclusively. The data also show that support for language revitalization in the way of funding, as well as endorsement, is critical to revitalization efforts. This study also makes evident the social, cultural, political, and geographic gaps in what we know about revitalization worldwide. We hope that this study will strengthen broad interest and commitment to studying, understanding, and supporting language revitalization as an integral aspect of the history of human language in the 21st century. ; National Foreign Language Resource Center