In the paper a distinction is made between three types of multilingualism: institutional multilingualism, i.e. multilingualism as realised in institutions working with several official languages (with the European Union as a case in point); individual multilingualism, i.e. multilingualism as embodied by people who are able to understand and express themselves in more than one language; and societal multilingualism, i.e. multilingualism as seen in societies where a number of linguistic communities coexist. The three types of multilingualism are analysed and discussed with particular reference to their relevance to T&I practice and the role of T&I schools
