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Key Dimensions of Language and Terminology : Inviting Cultural Vernaculars

Annika Airas, Salla Jokela, and Majken Toftager Larsen brought vernacular terms from Finnish and Danish that evoke specific cultural meaning that is relevant in situated ways to local transitions in Finland and Denmark. In addition, they carefully considered how the embedded motivational value and meaning of these vernaculars could be opened up more broadly, beyond those with fluent knowledge of these languages to invite a multilingual and translanguaging spirit and to share efforts in ecological transition in meaningful ways. Whereas the Danish notion of hygge does not mean what English language marketers think it means, and there is a great deal of baggage surrounding Finnish sauna culture too, aspects of the cultural richness of these terms, and the practices they relate to, are key to culturally-meaningful sustainability transition, for Danish and Finnish speakers. Some vernaculars, such as the Finnish concept of talkoot, do not have ready translations in English (or French), and reflect a different kind of language and cultural asset with rich value to bring to efforts in ecological transition. The emergence of neologisms to communicate new weather patterns emerging in the face of climate change was also presented as a theme for further investigation, as these terms in their respective languages offer clues about how different urban cultures are grappling with and prepared for these changes. Terminologies of the culturally-relevant sustainable city build context-specific bonds, but these specificities are also amenable to being expressed through stories and translanguaging – growing the circle of understanding, for those willing to listen.