My name is Bernat Rosell (29) and I come from Sabadell, a city close to Barcelona. I am Catalan, which means that I belong to a national minority, and I culturally identify myself as such. I graduated in Journalism back in 2015, and I hold Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies from Aarhus University, Denmark. Furthermore, I speak Catalan, English, Italian and Spanish fluently, and I am a beginner in French.
When I was young(er), I chose to study Journalism with the intention of publishing world-changing articles. However, I quickly realized that I didn’t enjoy its working atmosphere and I opted for fulfilling my long-cherished dream to travel the globe. Since then, I managed to both live and work in New Zealand, Italy, Romania, Australia, Denmark, Belgium and Mexico, thanks to which I have acquired a solid intercultural competence, which, I believe, is essential in our multicultural and plurilingual planet.
My professional background is a bit mixed. I have experience working in communication departments, newspapers, NGOs and universities, but I have been employed as a cashier, dishwasher, waiter, flyer distributor, food courier and cleaner as well. I am genuinely proud of it. I am of the opinion that if I want to understand the world I need, first, to be part of it by meeting multiple realities and laboring in numerous fields. Throughout my working years, I gained not only new technical skills, but also a lot of empathy, modesty and a hard-working culture. I consider myself responsible, humble, passionate, open-minded and easy going, and I know how to put myself in other’s shoes.
More recently, I had the chance to do an internship at the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), where, among other things, I wrote a submission about Namibia’s indigenous peoples for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and I drafted a Policy Paper aimed at pointing out the difficulties of young citizens from unrecognized states when it comes to travelling and studying abroad. Moreover, I did a research stay at the Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas, in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico, which is a public higher education institution intended to include indigenous peoples. Specifically, I studied the impact the said university has on the Mayan Tzotzil students from the municipality of Zinacantán, a small community located in the mountains of Chiapas overwhelmingly populated by Tzotzil Mayans.
My mother tongue is Catalan, but I speak perfectly Spanish. In this regard, being a speaker of a minority language gives me the right understanding when it comes to defend and protect languages in danger. I believe that all cultures, especially the smallest ones, must be protected and fostered to maintain global diversity. In fact, I completely agree with UNESCO’s defense of cultural diversity, defining it “as necessary for humanity as biodiversity for nature”.
Unfortunately, globalization has brought about an alarming trend of homogenization, which is threatening our centuries-long cultural ecosystem. In this regard, I want to help protect our cultural heritage and nurture genuine intercultural dialogue, which is something particularly dear to me.
I hope you enjoy my articles and do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions. On this site, I will be writing randomly and simultaneously in all the languages I am fluent in, so that I can maintain and improve my writing skills. I will talk about whatever comes to my mind, although I will be essentially focused on subjects such as traveling, politics, multiculturalism and culture.
PS: I am currently working as an intern at the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, located in Venice.