What are transient multilingual communities?

Transient multilingual communities are social configurations where people from diverse sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds come together (physically or otherwise) for a limited period of time to work on a shared activity. Some TMCs are project-based with participants coming together to solve very specific tasks, for instance setting up a play at a theatre with an international cast or establishing sustainable water supply in a remote village through collaboration between the local population and outside experts. Other TMCs will be organized more loosely around shared activities, for instance participating as a student in an international university programme.