New evaluation
In 2001, the work of the Plain Swedish Group was evaluated by the Swedish Agency for Administrative Development. The results showed that the public authorities are still very positive about the support from the group. Conferences, our web site, the Plain Language Bulletin, handbooks and guidelines, lectures and advice on language questions are very appreciated activities.

But the authorities keep asking for more. They want The Plain Swedish Group to have a more adequate organisation, they want more software as a help in language matters, more help to manage evaluations of the plain language work at the authorities, help in EU-related matters and also want to be provided with arguments for the importance of plain language work and good examples to show that it pays off.

Well developed networks

All over the world, there are plain language consultants, highly proficient professionals who work hard to make a difference. What we find can really make a difference is if these enthusiasts link together and cooperate in networks, formalized, yet non-bureaucratic networks. There is a number of such networks in Sweden, and there is a growing awareness that we also need to have networks that cross national borders.

The Language Cultivation Group
An important national network is the Language Cultivation Group (Språkvårdsgruppen), which comprises all of the most important groups and organisations dealing with questions of language use. Among others, it comprises the Swedish Academy, best known perhaps for the Nobel Prize in literature, but also very active in language matters. With its long tradition going back hundreds of years, it is also very much looked up to. The network also comprises the Swedish Language Council, Sweden's official institution for language cultivation. Furthermore, the network comprises the Terminology Centre TNC, an institution dedicated to matters of terminology in a number of fields. In the network there are also representatives from the biggest newspapers and from the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation. At their meetings, which are held four times a year, burning topics are discussed and, normally, the representatives manage to agree on a joint statement. This kind of statement has great impact, since all the major players in the language business are behind it.