Europe. Concepts. Online lexicon. Bridging semantic gaps

Objectives: At a time of widening divides and the unprecedented return of war to Europe, Europeans urgently need to clarify the changing uses and misuses of words. By enquiring into the historical semantics on a truly European scale and developing easily accessible material on key contested notions in several European languages, LexiECO aims to sharpen the eye for key semantic issues underlying domestic and international debates and thus to help us better understand European diversity. Implementation: A first set of 20 entries on key notions, each comprising 6+ constitutive articles illustrating semantic gaps between Europeans and giving keys to overcoming them, enriched by educational materials, in an online display conceived on a truly European scale, destined to last and be further expanded. A printed volume of selected contributions. A series of workshops and a communication campaign to train users to use the resources developed (including outreach to policymakers). Expected Results: LexiECO will increase the skills and knowledge of Europeans to better understand the shifts and gaps of meanings of key notions on a truly European scale, from Spain to Ukraine. It will provide a set of open-access resources where users may easily find clarifications about central yet ambivalent concepts, backed up by multilingual analyses. This is to our mind a vital precondition for overcoming incomprehension given the spectacular changes in European political vocabulary over the past decades.