From 17 to 21 July, from Monday to Friday, the fourth edition of the HIGA meetings will be held at the Montehermoso Cultural Center of Vitoria-Gasteiz. This year, 75 people will gather from different parts of the world, representing 65 minority linguistic communities.

HIGA is the Meeting of Young Minority Language Speakers focusing on the revitalization of minority languages, which began this Monday at 16:00. The new councillor of the Basque Country, Maria Nanclares, and the director of the Euskera de la Diputación, Lexuri Ugarte, the chair of the Euskaltzaindia Language Supervisory Committee, Sagrario Aleman, Louis Albert Becker, Rights Coordinator and Minority Policy Coordinator of YEN/JEV have attended.

The first edition was organized in 2011 with the aim of creating a working network among many international communities. In addition, participants have the opportunity to train themselves both in linguistic revitalization processes and in linguistic activism, sharing their reality and knowing that of others.

"We are aware that young people form one of the most important social groups to enable the revitalization of minority languages," said Nanclares, emphasizing that both in the Youth Plan and through the Promotion Plan of the Basque Country the City of Vitoria-Gasteiz organizes and drives the project.

This international project is also included in the UPV/EHU summer training programme and, as a novelty this year, interactive shorts called HIGA Plaza will be created. In addition, UNESCO has chosen HIGA this year as an official event within the programme related to the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

Five days to share experiences

The conference will deal with themes as diverse as linguistic activism, intersectionality, compatible points of linguistic revitalization with other demands, new technologies...

The morning meetings will be chaired by conferences and round tables. Workshops will be held at the desk to promote cooperation and entrepreneurship among communities. And in the afternoon leisure activities will be organized to create networks of intercommunication and knowledge in a more informal environment: concerts, projections, cultural exits...

In addition to the City Hall, HIGA has been assisted by other institutions: Basque Government; Provincial Council of Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa; Fundación Vital; Badalab; Euskaltzaindia; Garabide; UPV; VPL; Cluster of Sociolinguistics; and Chair of Unesco.