Can small minority languages survive in a globalized world? The question is asked within the research project ELDIA (European Language Diversity for All) in which the Åland Islands Peace Institute is cooperating with researchers from seven different universities. Multilingualism is today recognised by many as an advantage for individuals and societies. But how does such multilingualism operate in practise? And what factors affect the choices people make with respect to language use? These are some of the other questions that the project aims to investigate.
In the project, the ÅIPI is responsible for coordinating the legal research. Nine researchers, three of whom are from within the ÅIPI, will work with the legal research. They cooperate with sociolinguists and sociologists in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Russia, Slovenia and Austria.
The research team will investigate the situation for languages such as North Sami in Norway, Karelian and Estonian in Finland, Võro and Seto in Estonia, Finnish in Sweden, Veps in Russian and Hungarian in Austria, that is languages that have not previously been thoroughly studied. By chosing a large number of languages within the same language family and in different countries the researchers hope to be able to maximise the lessons learned. 
The project is carried out within the seventh framework program for research of the European Union and will span over three years starting from March 2010.
More information is available at the project website
www.eldia-project.org
Contactperson for the project at the ÅIPI is senior lecturer Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark (sia@peace.ax, tel. 018-21960). In addition, junior researchers Sarah Stephan and Heidi Öst also participate in the project.
