Multilingual Societies, Monolingual mindsets?

Multilingualism is a core pillar of European life and a prerequisite for its political, economic, and cultural sustainability. Yet, while linguistic diversity is routinely celebrated as an essential identity attribute, it remains absent from the everyday practices of key institutions, including schools, universities, and public services. At the same time, language is also devalued as a subject of study. Across European higher education, language and humanities degrees are being closed or downsized, student recruitment continues to decline, and the languages that remain on offer often do not align with the linguistic landscapes of contemporary European societies. The result is a disconnect: universities operating in multilingual societies while reproducing monolingual norms, hierarchies, and imaginaries.

We are bringing together experts to reflect on these tensions and focuses specifically on the role and responsibility of universities. Join us on:

• Date: Friday, 13 February 2026
• Time: 14:00–17:00 (CET)
• Venue: Palais de la Bourse / Beurs, Brussels

No registration required.

We will address the following questions:

• What does it mean to teach, research, and govern in multilingual societies?
• How can institutions recognise, support, and develop students’ existing linguistic repertoires rather than treating them as invisible or irrelevant?
• What kinds of language-related degrees make sense today, and whose languages, knowledges, and futures do they serve?
• Beyond curriculum reform, what institutional policies are needed to value students’ linguistic capital and to reposition language as a social, cultural, and political resource rather than a mere skill?

Finally, the panel asks whether European University Alliances can play a role meaningfully in this landscape: is it by moving beyond national language hierarchies? pooling linguistic provision across institutions and articulating a more inclusive, socially responsive vision of language education for Europe? The purpose of this panel is to start a public forum which will be hosted by the dedicated expert team on Multilingualism under the EUTOPIA alliance

Jan Danckaert

Rector, Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Chair, EUTOPIA.

Christine Engelen

Universiteit Antwerpen.

Director of Linguapolis, YUFE.

Emma Cayley

University of Leeds.

Head of the University Council For Languages.

Nell Foster

Université Libre de Belgique.

Chair of Expert Group on Multilingualism, CIVIS.

Jo Angouri

University of Warwick - Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Lead of the Multilingualism Connected Community, EUTOPIA.

Ann Peeters

Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Lead of the Minor in Multilingualism, EUTOPIA.

Tea Tóth

University of Warwick/EUTOPIA.

PhD Researcher on European University Alliances.

Luc Hoang

Vrije Universiteit Brussel/EUTOPIA.

MA Student on MUMA: Multilingual Master in Linguistics and Literary Studies.