Going local in language education: Cities as sites for cross-sectoral connection, Coalition for Language Education, UCL, East London, UK, 28 March 2026.
Cities are multilingual. At home, at work, in community life and across a range of media, people learn, switch & blend languages and ways of speaking in both routine and creative ways. But can we do more in education to cultivate and capitalise on this linguistic energy and expertise? We can’t ignore rising xenophobia and hostility to difference, alongside declining provision in modern languages, massive underfunding in ESOL, overwhelming neglect in EAL and heritage/community languages, and the siloed fragmentation of language education more generally. Even so, we have ‘Cities of Languages’ in the UK, and the DfE’s Curriculum & Assessment Report calls on “local authorities, multi-academy trusts and schools to explore the potential benefits of a coordinated approach in their local areas”. So in what ways can cities serves as sites for regenerating language education?
This one-day event brings people together from schools, universities, adult education, community organisations and policy to consider how cities can act as spaces for language development and cross-sector collaboration. Through case studies, structured discussions and cross-sector dialogue, we will look at what it means to organise locally for languages, exploring the principles emerging for locally driven, inclusive and critically informed strategies for language.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 