At its meeting in Barcelona for the implementation of the EU work programme“Education and Training 2010”, the Education Ministers of the various Member Statesstipulated that all EU citizens whose early years are spent growing up in a duallanguage environment should be introduced to a third foreign language as part of theirfurther educational development. Multilingualism is increasingly becoming a key skill interms of personal development opportunities, peaceful intercultural understanding andthe global understanding of people in Europe and around the world. The process ofsocialising young children is traditionally associated with the system of preschooleducation and development. Supporting the particular needs of individual childrenshould be linked with preparing them for the requirements of a dynamic and globalisedworld. The “LIGHT” project is developing the concept of bilingual nurseries as aninnovative European model. It is based on experiences in DE and FI, where the modelhas been successfully tested with the integration of Russian-speaking migrants. In theproject, partners from AT, CY, DE, FI, FR work together to develop a European modelfor a bilingual nursery for linguistically competent preschool education and developmentand at the same time a successful model for integrating migrant teachers with aRussian-speaking background. Modules with educational and methodological contentare being developed, which can be adapted to suit regional requirements. In the fiveparticipating countries, the European model is being regionally tested as best practice.To ensure the necessary personal skills and abilities, “Train the Trainer” modules arebeing developed in parallel with “on-the-job” testing for 7-15 unemployed teachers ineach country. The “LIGHT” project thus provides the basis for successful early years ofbilingual/multilingual language teaching as well as the basis for the successfulprofessional integration of Russian-speaking migrants in Europe. This will increaseintercultural tolerance within and beyond Europe.