On Wednesday, 23 October 2024, the Cross-Border Conference on the Needs and Best Practices of Multilingual Activities in Public Administration was held at the Centre for Humanities of Science and Research Centre Koper (ZRS Koper) as part of the CrossTerm project, co-financed by the European Union through the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme.
The event began with introductory greetings by Prof. Dr Rado Pišot, Director of ZRS Koper, followed by addresses from Giovanni Coviello, Consul General of the Republic of Italy in Koper, and Dr Sara Brezigar, President of SLORI. Subsequently, Dr Matejka Grgič, the scientific coordinator of the project, presented the CrossTerm project (Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia 2021-2027 ITA-SI00600194).
The central part of the conference was dedicated to presenting best practices in multilingual business operations, with contributions from experts from various linguistic contexts: Laura Sgubin (Region FVG), Kim Jakopič (Autonomous Coastal National Italian Community – CAN Costiera), and Elena Zanussi (ARLeF). The discussion was moderated by Dr Vesna Mikolič, Director of the Institute for Linguistic Studies at the ZRS Koper and leader of the CrossTerm project group at ZRS Koper.










In addition to the presentations, reports were provided on the needs analysis conducted during recent focus groups. These were followed by a lively debate on the topic with a large audience, including many users of local public administration from both sides of the border. This part of the conference was moderated by Dr Irina M. Cavaion from the Institute for Linguistic Studies at ZRS Koper, with conclusions presented by Marjanka Ban (Region FVG), Chiara Vianello (OSSIN), and Linda Picco (ARLeF). The presentations and discussion highlighted a significant need for personnel with advanced bilingual communication skills, continuous professional and linguistic training, and unified terminology in public administration.
The conference thus emphasised the importance of multilingual operations in the cross-border area and strengthened cooperation between institutions and stakeholders from Italy and Slovenia. Events of this kind contribute to enhancing connections and cooperation in the field of institutional terminology while improving public administration services in both countries, which are also the main goals of the CrossTerm project.
