Linguistic diversity and peace, the basic aims of Linguapax, to which our organization owes its name, are also the working axes of an international reference in linguistic policy and conflict resolution, Joseph Lo Bianco, a member of our Advisory Board, expert of Catalan society and culture and teacher of the MOOC Linguistic Diversity, What for?.

The Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and Immediate Past President of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, has been working tirelessly for decades on the development of language policies that promote respect for linguistic diversity, multilingualism, conflict resolution and culture of peace.

He has worked around the world, leading or collaborating on projects with minority and/or endangered linguistic communities. In particular, he served as senior research advisor for LUCIDE, a European Commission project on Languages in Urban Communities and as Research Director of the UNICEF Language and Peacebuilding initiative in Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. As part of this project, he promoted and achieved dialogue between institutional and guerrilla leaders in this region of Southeast Asia.

Because of this constant effort to promote linguistic diversity and peace, also in Catalonia, where he participated in different activities and conferences, he has been awarded the Ramon Llull International Prize for Catalanism and Cultural Diversity, convened jointly by the Ramon Llull Foundation and the Congress of Catalan Culture Foundation, with the aim of recognising the work of catalanophile people or organisations from all over the world or people who have highlighted in the defense of linguistic diversity.

*To know more about Prof. Lo Bianco’s work, you can see his video-lesson Languages, Peoples and Peace-building in this link.