On 7/8 November 2013 the Scottish Government hosted a seminar at the MacDonald Holyrood Hotel, Edinburgh on behalf of the British-Irish Council’s Indigenous, Minority and Lesser-used (IML) Languages Work Sector.

The event was attended by over 60 delegates, from across the BIC Member Administrations representing national governments, local councils, the Welsh and Irish language commissioners, representatives of language agencies and experts from academia and the NGO sector.

The seminar focused on legislative issues affecting indigenous, minority and lesser-used languages.  Dr. Alasdair Allan MSP, Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages delivered the keynote address. 
Over the two day event, delegates heard expert speakers from government and academia focus on recent experiences of legislating for language issues in a number of countries. 

Case studies were examined and workshops enabled all delegates to contribute from their own national or regional perspective. Of particular interest to delegates were the experiences of how governments mainstream minority languages into legislation, policy and service delivery. 

More information on the Indigenous Minority and Lesser-Used Languages work sector is available on the IML page of our website.