Newsletter of the working group Non-Kin-State 2023/1

Dear NKS member organisations, dear friends,

We are already in the second half of 2023 and thus it is time for the first newsletter of the Non-Kin-State WG. Some of us have already seen and met each other in June, during the annual meeting of the Non-Kin-State Working Group.

Many of you may be on holiday or still have some days off to look forward to. Despite the holiday season and the summer season, I hope you will take a moment to read the newsletter. You can read news from the member organisations of the working group as well as general information from FUEN concerning our working group. Enjoy reading!

1. Annual meeting of the NKS in Altafulla, Catalonia

From 31 May to 3 June, the annual meeting of our working group took place in Altafulla. In cooperation with the Catalan member organisation Plataforma per la Llengua, a varied and highly relevant programme was put together. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the local co-organisers, the participants, speakers and the WG spokesperson for these impressive days. Further details can be found in the press release and visual impressions can be found in the picture gallery. https://fuen.org/en/article/Social-media-and-digitalisation-as-a-great-opportunity-for-small-languages

2. FUEN Congress 2023 in Pécs - registration is open!

This year's FUEN Congress will take place from 7 to 10 September in Pécs/Fünfkirchen/Pečuh, Hungary, and is organised in cooperation with the Land Self-Government of Hungarian Germans (LdU). Registration is still possible until 21 July - so if you haven't done so yet, you can do it on our Congress website.

The working group meetings will be different at this Congress. This year, the WGs will visit one of their member organisations in the region. For the NKS working group this means that we will visit the "Gandhi Gymnasium of Roma Minority". You can see the programme, congress packages and more information on the congress website: https://congress2023.fuen.org/.

3. Friisk Foriining celebrated its 100th anniversary

On 3 June our member organisation Friisk Foriining celebrated its 100th anniversary. The association was founded in 1923 under the name "Frisian-Silesian Association". The main objective of Friisk Foriining is: "(...) to work for the preservation and development of the Frisian language and a Frisian identity". Also digitally, we wish our member organisation congratulations once again and all the best for its future work. You can read an article about the association here, but unfortunately it is only available in German: https://www.ndr.de/kultur/norddeutsche_sprache/friesisch/100-Jahre-Friisk-Foriining-Interesse-am-Friesisch-ist-gross-,friiskforiining100.html.

4. Bus - and trainstop announcements in Ladin

Since January 2023, our Ladin friends can look forward to bus - and trainstop announcements in Ladin. At 350 train and bus stops, the announcements will now be provided in German, Italian and Ladin. Read more about this happy news on the website of the Province of South Tyrol: https://news.provinz.bz.it/de/news/bus-und-bahn-haltestellenansagen-nun-auch-auf-ladinisch.

5. 2nd of August is now also the national Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma in Austria

In 2015, the European Parliament declared 2 August as the International Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma/Rominja people. In January 2023, the day was also unanimously recognised by the Austrian National Council. Thus, the International Memorial Day is now also a national memorial day in Austria: https://www.parlament.gv.at/aktuelles/pk/jahr_2023/pk0092.

6. Production of a NKS brochure

We are still in the process of making a brochure about the member organisations of the Non-Kin-State WG. I hereby invite you to send us a contribution about your organisation with the current contact details in a timely manner. You will receive more information about the implementation and printing at the Congress.

If you come across interesting information that could be relevant for our working group, or if your member organisation has something new to report, I would be pleased to receive an email from you. You can reach me at thea.bargum@fuen.org.

I hope to see many of you at the Congress and wish you all a warm and wonderful summer!

With kind regards

Thea Bargum Petersen

Coordinator of the NKS WG in the FUEN