StofnunVIGDÍSAR FINNBOGADÓTTUR

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VIGDÍS INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR MULTILINGUALISM AND INTERCULTURAL UNDERSTANDING

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The President´s Address

The languages of the world are priceless treasures.

Ideas communicated through words have provided

all the knowledge that the world’s societies now pos-

sess, all our great riches in philosophy, art and tech-

nology. With its vocabulary, imagination and creative

powers, the human mind has explored all the heights

and depths of the human spirit.

“Language is the tool by which we define ourselves”

as a wise saying has it. To have a good command of

a language, one’s own as well as an- other, and to appreciate the value of this, is the first

step towards the immeasurable pleasure of being able to enjoy everything that has ever been

created in that language, to understand the nuances behind its every word and deed, and,

not least, to express our own heartfelt thoughts and feelings in it. But a language can also be

a hindrance. A poverty of words is like water frozen in ice. Anyone who has been unable to

communicate their thoughts, or is ignorant of what is going on around them, will realize this.

Knowledge of foreign languages for a sparsely-populated nation with its own unique language

and culture is thus an absolute necessity. Such knowledge is the key to a greater understand-

ing and a broader vision of a world in which everything and everyone is becoming increasingly

interrelated. All the inhabitants of Planet Earth are rapidly becoming nearer neighbours than

ever before. The world’s languages, however, convey very different experiences and have

created dissimilar cultural areas. These languages have to be studied so that co-operation,

agreement and trade can progress peacefully and prosperously. Just as language can unite the

individuals of a nation, so can knowledge of other languages play its part in creating mutual

trust. Moreover knowledge of foreign languages also sharpens and highlights the understand-

ing of our own ways of thinking and behaving.

A skill in languages provides every individual with a great strength, and it has long been my

ambition that Icelanders increase this strength in our modern, complex world by having at

hand, as far as possible, a command of at least two foreign languages in order to bring us

closer to understanding and enjoying all that is best in the modern world’s varying cultures.

Vigdís Finnbogadóttir

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The Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages at the University of Iceland

was founded in year 2001 with the aim to contribute to intercultural understanding bet-

ween individuals and nations through research, teaching and dissemination with reg-

ards to language competences and knowledge about other cultures. In addition, the

institute promotes and gives support to translations between languages. Finally, the

Institute aims to honor Madame Vigdís Finnbogadóttir for her important contribution to

language proficiency and cultural awareness in her role as a President of the Republic

of Iceland and the first and, to date, unique UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Lang-

uages.

Considerable effort has been put in empowering the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute

as an international research and educational institute. The international scope of the

institute will be further enlarged with the foundation of an international research and

knowledge centre entitled The Vigdís International Centre of Multilingualism and Inter-

cultural Understanding. A convention between UNESCO and the Icelandic government

was signed in June 2013, establishing that The Vigdís International Centre will work

under the auspices of UNESCO, as a Category 2 institute.

Photo: Madame Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, former President of the Republic of Iceland, and Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, sign a convention establishing that The Vigdís International Centre will work under the auspices of UNESCO.

The Vigdís International Center of Multilingualism and Intercultural Understanding

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The main objectives of the Centre are as follows: promote multilingualism in order to further understanding, communication and respect • between nations and cultures;

raise awareness of the key role of languages as a basic aspect of the human cultural • heritage and contribute to the preservation of languages;

promote translations and translation studies in order to enhance the respect for and • enjoyment of cultural diversity and intercultural understanding;

contribute to worldwide monitoring of the implementation of language policies and • language planning in the field of mother-tongue-based multilingualism;

promote research and education in foreign language and culture studies;•

support and promote research into the role of the mother tongue as a human right; •

The main functions of the Centre will be to:work towards and encourage the preservation of languages by maintaining and supporting • digital archives for languages of the world;

support language vitalization and create a “planetarium of languages” – a combination • of a real and virtual reality museum on the languages of the world with exhibitions to be experienced both on location and on the internet;

promote and disseminate research on languages and cultures as an element of the human • cultural heritage by supporting research chairs for outstanding scholars, including scholars from developing countries;

provide a forum and facilities for international doctoral students and academics, especially • from the developing countries;

devise and make available worldwide strategies and methods in support of endangered • and indigenous languages through research projects, conferences and publications;

support outstanding research in the field of language policy and politics; •

provide facilities and expertise for research projects and disseminate results with a special • view to the objectives of the centre;

demonstrate how native language visions and focused language policy can enhance literacy • and education through the means of research projects and dissemination of knowledge;

develop an international discussion platform; •

In the World Language Centre there will be an information and experience centre for the languages of the world and the cultures associated with them. This part of the centre will be open to the public. The main purpose is to inform and raise awareness of languages and their significance and role in preserving cultural and linguistic diversity. This will entail a “virtual experience” of different languages in a cultural context through the use of digital data on languages and culture as well as multimedia and language technology. The visitors will be able to experience languages both in writ-ten and spoken form and learn how they are used in different social and cultural contexts.

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Hence, the centre will function as a platform for research and knowledge, open to the gen-

eral public and where the local population as well as foreign guests can access information

on languages and cultures, on site as well as online. A particular effort will be deployed

to make this information available in an interesting and interactive way. As an example,

exhibitions could be organized on the role of alphabets and various code systems in visual

arts through the ages, such the first letter in European medieval manuscripts, or the use

of different literary genres according to various cultures, such as fairytales in Germany

and haikus in Japan. Also, the centre will host international colloquia and seminars in the

domains of languages, literature and linguistics.

To provide all these activities with a suitable venue, a construction of a new building is now

in preparation (see first page), housing the world language centre as well as teaching and

research in foreign languages. The world language centre will include special home areas,

or zones, for the 14 languages taught at the University of Iceland. This will entail excellent

facilities for teaching in the respective languages, Danish, English, French, Japanese, etc.

The home areas will be equipped with modern facilities and necessary resources required

for effective language learning. Finally, the building will feature an auditorium, carrying

the name of Madzame Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, as well as a hall presenting her life and

work, pioneer in so many ways.

The Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute has benefitted since 2008 from the expert advice of

an International Consulting Committee while preparing the activities of The Vigdís Inter-

national Center. The members of the committee are:

Jens Allwood, Professor at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.•

Peter Austin, Professor at SOAS University of London.•

Bernard Comrie, Professor and Director of Max Planck Institute for Evolution-•

ary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

Anju Saxena, Professor at the University of Uppsala, Sweden.•

The total cost for the building is estimated at ISK 1.6 billion and currently still ISK 4-500

million are lacking to fully finance the project. A number of public and private parties out-

side of Iceland, as well as individuals, have donated to the building, in particular from the

Faeroe Islands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and France.