Language at SLU

Last changed: 06 November 2020

Language use at SLU is regulated primarily by the Swedish Language Act and by SLU's own language policy and language guidelines. To ensure consistent language in SLU texts, we also have an in-house style guide.

Language Act

The Language Act was adopted in 2009, and there are two sections that concern us as a public authority:

Section 11

The language of the public sector is to be cultivated, simple and comprehensible.

Section 12

Government agencies have a special responsibility for ensuring that Swedish terminology in their various areas of expertise is accessible, that it is used and developed.

Section 11 is on plain language. Using a plain and cultivated language is an obligation all public authorities have.

You achieve this by writing according to the principles of plain language and following the SLU style guide.

Section 12 is about the terminological responsibility that public authorities, including SLU, have.

Our task is to ensure that terminology in our areas of expertise is available, as this is a prerequisite for communicating SLU's knowledge to the surrounding community.

Language policy

The SLU language policy describes the overall objectives of our language use - plain language, parallel language use and high linguistic quality.

Language guidelines

The guidelines, which are binding, have two purposes: to implement the language policy and make it easier for staff to determine, for example, which information is needed in both Swedish and English.

The guidelines are intended to provide answers to the most commonly asked questions on language use at SLU.