May 2008: Financial contribution of the municipality of Leeuwarden for the Mercator Research Centre
The Mercator European Research Centre for Multilingualism and Language learning receives 50.000 Euros from the municipality of Leeuwarden. The contribution is intended for the further development of the Mercator Research Centre into a European Agency for Linguistic Diversity and Language Learning in the knowledge city of Leeuwarden.
Within the City Covenant of Leeuwarden and the Berenschot plans the municipality of Leeuwarden and the Province of Fryslân on the one hand, and the Frisian institutes for higher education and the Fryske Akademy on the other, have made an agreement regarding the development of ‘Leeuwarden, fier verder!’ (‘Leeuwarden, forward with pride!’) with 5 relevant pillars, including ‘Time for beauty’, “Cure and Care’, and ‘Knowledge city’. The theme ‘multilingualism’, for which the Mercator Research Centre of the Fryske Akademy is responsible, is part of the pillar ‘knowledge city’. The contribution of the municipality of Leeuwarden for 2008 can be changed into structural funding as part of ‘Leeuwarden, fier verder!’ for 2009-2013.
The aid of the municipality of Leeuwarden and the Province of Fryslân is important support for the acquisition of European funding for projects that the Mercator Research Centre wants to develop in Fryslân and other areas, such as a European Language Agency of international stature.