Information, inspiration, support
Welcome to Interlace PODCAST, the first and only blog dedicated to the internationalization aspects of education and culture. Internationalization in education and culture is today a solid reality that positively counterbalances the many negative aspects of globalization. In line with our motto, and in order to offer meaningful content to our audience, we cover each specific topic by providing elements of: information (what?) inspiration (how?), and support (what’s in it for me?).
Our podcast has a broad approach so to provide a comprehensive overview on all the aspects of internationalization in education and culture, but at the same time we focus on a number of specific categories so to channel the interest of the different users. General information on hot topics will be completed by country specific specials, programs entirely dedicated to cooperation for development, concrete best practices and programmes going deeper in the world of higher education or culture.
The Interlace PODCAST is an inclusive tool that allows the voices of a wide range of actors in the field to be heard: from the leaders and influencers to the practitioners and individuals with an interesting story to tell.
We aim at creating a lively, inspiring and interactive environment and we therefore invite you all to contribute to our discussion forum and to send us your suggestions for topics to be covered in future episodes (why not by yourself?). The podcast will also be enriched with extra information and links to relevant resources and events that we will collect on the covered topics.
Who we are
Interlace PODCAST is a concept developed and run by Mirko Varano and Christofer Fredriksson, two specialists in the field of internationalization of higher education and culture living and working in Stockholm, Sweden. In the past two decades we have operated in the field on behalf of different organizations and as independent professionals at different levels and covering a wide range of different positions.
These experiences allowed us to develop a comprehensive understanding of the topics here covered and at the same time develop an extensive network of contacts and trust with the most prominent professionals in the field as well as with newcomers and raising stars in the internationalization world of culture and education.
Through our unique podcast platform, we decided now to share our experience and network with the whole community with the intent of offering a comprehensive service today not available, encourage and facilitate debate among professionals and enthusiasts, fight fake news, and ultimately bring together people with a collaborative spirit and a passion for the topic.
Hosts
Mirko Varano
Mirko Varano is Senior Advisor International Projects based in Stockholm, Sweden. Mirko has been active in the field of internationalisation of higher education for the past 25 years. He covered over the years different positions of responsibility at a number of European higher education institutions and university networks and in particular he served as CLUSTER network coordinator from 2008 to 2010. He will serve as member of the EAIE Leadership starting from September 2020. His main expertise is internationalization of higher education and in particular EU funded programmes, joint programs and university networks. Mirko is an amateur photographer and former football player. He holds a Master’s degree in Political Science with a specialisation in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Turin, Italy.
Christofer Fredriksson
Christofer Fredriksson has been active in the field of internationalization of higher education since the year 2000 serving at different Swedish institutions. He holds a Bachelor´s degree in History of Art and a background as independent visual artist with 20 years of professional activity with more than 150 exhibitions, performance and public works. Christofer is also a freelance writer and columnist in several Vietnamese Newspapers and Magazines, graphic designer, advisor at ECOart project, Vietnam and co-owner of Hanoi FLUXUS Shop among others. And for almost 10 years, he read Pacenotes at the national level in Rallying.