Noor Cornelissen 'Feeling Rooted: Perspectives on belonging and home'

An Odyssey with Anum Farooq (Odyssey Global Media)

Noor sees mobility as an integral part of the human experience. She also experiences that globalization changes the way in which we understand our sense of belonging. The world has become our home, while this global accessibility has also outgrown our understanding of home. Noor is curious to explore how we, as individuals and societies, can strengthen our embodied sense of belonging to ourselves, our communities, and nature – regardless of the geographical location. How may we come home and feel rooted again?

At the age of 16, Noor moved by herself to New Mexico where she finished the last two years of her high school. After obtaining degrees in political science, history and international development in Germany and Switzerland, Noor moved all over the world to work with communities on matters of migration and displacement. She spoke with hundreds of people on their migratory experience, including in Libya, Chad, Iraq, Uganda, Congo, and Palestine. After more than ten years abroad, she lived through her own sense of uprootedness upon return to the Netherlands. Currently, Noor is integrating her lived experience in her work as policy maker, entrepreneur and speaker.

Through Rooted, Noor intends to create a space where people can consciously and jointly reflect on their sense of rootedness.