I now spend a great deal of my time working in international groups to complete projects of two to three years duration. The topics usually range over education, e-learning, mentoring, language learning or intercultural competence training. The latest Absolutely Intercultural show includes a conversation with Nicole Slupetsky from Austria who was one of our partners in the Teaching Culture project which ended in 2006. When you work with people over such a length of time, you inevitably become quite closely-knit even though you don't meet face to face more than twice a year. It is interesting to hear Nicole talk about the great efforts we made as a project group to ensure that we were also being interculturally sensitive as well as devising great ways to heighten the awareness of VET teachers across Europe to these issues.
The show also includes an interview with Keith Warburton of Global Business Culture who emphasises that inter-cultural awareness is necessary across the whole organisation and should not be restricted only to CEOs and negotiators.
At one point in the show you do hear the commonly expressed view that intercultural competence cannot be taught so the show ends with a conversation among some intercultural trainers talking about their favourite awareness raising exercises.
Keywords: absolutely intercultural, global business culture, intercultural competence training, international projects, podcast, teaching culture
