María Teresa (Mayte) de la Piedra

Is an anthropologist (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú), with a master’s degree in Curriculum Studies and a Ph.D. in Multilingual Studies, both from The University of Texas at Austin. She is currently Full Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso and a Fulbright Scholar (2024-25) in Peru. Her research explores translanguaging and biliteracy practices in bilingual programs and communities on the Mexico-U.S. border.

Paulo Feytor Pinto

He is a secondary school Portuguese Language teacher and a researcher at the Centre for General and Applied Linguistics Studies (CELGA-ILTEC) at the University of Coimbra. He holds a master’s degree in Intercultural Relations and a PhD in Language Policy. He is currently president of the Association of Teachers for Intercultural Education (APEDI) and a visiting assistant professor at the Open University.

Julia Putsche

Is a full professor of language teaching at the University of Strasbourg (France). Much of her research focuses on the socio-didactic aspects of language teaching in the French-German border region. Since 2024, she has been a member of the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), notably for her expertise and work on the border region.

Julia works on German and French as foreign languages on both sides of the border and has focused primarily on the perspective of language teachers in this specific geographical and political context.

Irina Moira Cavaion

Irina M. Cavaion earned her PhD in 2016 with a thesis on the teaching of border languages, which received awards in both Italy and Slovenia. Her research focuses on qualitative and participatory approaches to language education, carried out in collaboration with Italian, Slovenian, and Croatian schools to enhance the learning of neighbouring languages. She has also written numerous articles and book chapters on this topic, published in international journals and collective volumes. She works at the Centre for Scientific Research in Koper, Slovenia, where she also coordinates the LangLAB Laboratory for Linguistic and Social Innovation.

Eliana Rosa  Sturza

Graduated in Literature and Master in Education from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM). PhD in Linguistics from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Postdoctoral studies at the University of the Republic (UDELAR), Uruguay. Full Professor in the Department of Modern Foreign Languages at the Federal University of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. Teaches undergraduate courses in Spanish Language and postgraduate courses in Linguistic Studies, linked to the research area of Text Studies and Linguistic Practices. Coordinator of the Entrelínguas Laboratory. Researcher in the following areas: language policy, border languages, linguistic landscapes, historical semantics of enunciation, and education in border areas.

María Teresa (Mayte) de la Piedra

Is an anthropologist (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú), with a master’s degree in Curriculum Studies and a Ph.D. in Multilingual Studies, both from The University of Texas at Austin. She is currently Full Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso and a Fulbright Scholar (2024-25) in Peru. Her research explores translanguaging and biliteracy practices in bilingual programs and communities on the Mexico-U.S. border.

Ana Paula Laborinho

She holds a PhD in Literary Studies from the University of Lisbon, where she has been a lecturer since 1983. She worked in Macau (1988-2002). She was President of the Camões Institute (2010-2012) and of Camões, Institute for Cooperation and Language (2012-1017). She is the director in Portugal of the Organisation of Ibero-American States – OEI (since 2017) and Director General of Multilingualism and Promotion of the Portuguese and Spanish Languages.

Dion Nkomo

Dion Nkomo is a full professor of African Language Studies at the School of Languages and Literatures at Rhodes University, where he holds an a research chair on African Languages, Multilingualism and Education under the auspices of the National Research Foundation. He obtained his MPhil. and DLitt. in Lexicography degrees from  Stellenbosch University, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Higher Education from Rhodes and earlier qualifications from Zimbabwe. He holds a C1 NRF rating. His academic interests, in which he publishes and supervises post-graduate studies, include language planning and policy, language teaching, lexicography, translation, terminology, sociolinguistics and higher education studies. He is a leader and collaborator in national and international capacity building and research projects on multilingualism, language planning and policy. Previously, he worked at the University of Zimbabwe and the University of Cape Town.

Zeinab El Dirani

Zeinab El Dirani is a PhD candidate in Sociolinguistics at the LIDILEM laboratory, University of Grenoble Alpes. Her research focuses on the linguistic trajectories and representations of displaced children in migratory contexts. She is particularly interested in language imaginaries, tensions between languages, and multilingual practices. In parallel with her research, she teaches French to refugee children. This experience informs her reflection on language policies, educational practices, and integration dynamics.

Thayse Figueira Guimarães

Thayse Figueira Guimarães is a professor at the Faculty of Communication, Arts and Letters (FALE) of the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), Brazil. She coordinates the Research Group on Language and Transculturality (GELT/UFGD-CNPq), which focuses on literacy studies, identities, linguistic mobility, migration, border studies, and research methodologies in diverse linguistic and cultural contexts. Her current research projects include Multilingual and Multiliteracy Repertoires in the Teaching of Portuguese in the Brazil–Paraguay Border Context and Images of Languages and Interculturality in the Bilingual and Intercultural Border Schools Project (PEBIF) between Portugal and Spain.