Introduction

In this introduction, the four editors of the collective volume outline its origins and objectives. By tracing the history of AILA congresses through the archives of the International Association of Applied Linguistics, the introduction contextualizes and situates the 2023 AILA Congress held in Lyon — centered on diversity and social cohesion in a globalized world — within a broader landscape. It belongs to the AILA Congress Anniversary Lab including AILA 2024 in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), which celebrated sixty years of Applied Linguistics since the establishment in France, in 1964, of both AILA and its French affiliate, AFLA. This opening chapter highlights how the fourteen contributions, presented in a range of formats (academic narratives, research articles, epistemological position papers), collectively address the question of how Applied Linguistics can respond to real-world problems. Fifteen applied linguists contribute to this reflection, examining how the past, present, and future intersect to acknowledge that discourses shape our contemporary world.