CEU Translation Project

Launched in 1995, the Translation Project aims to ensure the availability in local languages of at least the minimum of basic academic texts needed to renew higher education and to sustain informed public discussion of social and political issues. A parallel project objective is to assist the up-growing private publishing in the countries in transition.

Translation Project has been a major program of the Soros Foundations Network for the past years – surely the only one of its kind in the region. It had supported the translation of more than 2,200 titles, had contributed to the development of social sciences and humanities as well as the transformation of high education and the raise of independent private publishing in Central and Eastern Europe, and the countries of the former Societ Union. Due to the project’s publications certain issues, traditions and concepts that enable local students, scholars and activists to think about their societies have been introduced for the first time into local languages.

In year 2002, the Next Page Foundation conducted a survey of the Translation Project’s impact in three countries: Bulgaria, Lithuania and Ukraine.

Summary of the findings from the survey can be found here

Since the begginning of 2004, Translation Project ceased to exist in most countries of the network and is currently operating only in Albania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Macedonia and Ukraine. 

The project is managed by local Soros/Open Society Foundations, and overviewed by the Next Page Foundation on behalf of OSI - Budapest.