Merita

Traces&Dreams’ Projects:

Merita

MERITA – where chamber Music, cultural hERI tage and TAlent meet is an online and offline platform that increases the visibility and circulation of emerging European string quartets by innovating and improving the sustainability of the music industry increasing access and participation in cultural activities promoting European cultural heritage strengthening connections between local and European culture, and between online and offline engagement.

Winner of the Creative Europe – European Platforms 2021 and co-funded by the European Union, the project’s development lasts 3 years and is run by 17 cultural institutions from 12 European countries. It involves 38 string quartets for a total of 152 artists.

Through the digital platform, MERITA will showcase artists, present cultural sites and historic houses, educational materials, networking and content for the public, panel of online and on-site activities, i.e. trainings, artistic residencies, transnational and international circulation of young artists, studies and research.

The platform also allows new audiences to be brought closer to classical music and places of historical interest. It aims to become a reference point for (young) chamber musicians and practitioners, forming the basis for a new and lasting business model.

Traces&dreams AB is the partner in charge of the digital platform, and co-responsible for the communications strategy, the online training and the content creation.

Future Narratives

Traces&Dream`s Projects:

Future Narratives

Traces&Dreams AB developed and coordinates the Future Narratives Project.

By harnessing the power of narrative, we can imagine and create a positive and sustainable future for ourselves, our communities and our world.
Future Narratives is a transnational project involving youth organisations and stakeholders across Europe, co-funded by Erasmus+. Our goal is to engage, connect, and empower young people, enabling their voices and their vision to reach out to policy-makers, public administrations, civil society and other young people all over Europe.

Based on the UNESCO concept of Futures Literacy, the capability to decide why and how to use our imagination to introduce the future into the present, we believe that the power of storytelling can enable us to reimagine our pasts, presents and futures.

Through our digital platform, you can follow our learning journey as we create and curate content on narrative, storytelling and future literacy. We will share knowledge, innovation and dialogue, for young people, youth organisations and all those interested in using narrative to reimagine our future together.

Fair News

Traces&Dream`s Projects:

Fair News

In the current media landscape, in which young people are exposed to multiplying perspectives, the question of how knowledge is created, disseminated, and consumed is ever-more important. Young people need the ability to recognise bias and identify fair and trustworthy sources of news and information. Further, as the digital world becomes increasingly atomised, and much of social and civic life takes place online, many young people risk disconnection and isolation from the local, national, and international communities.

Fair News approaches these needs by seeking to empower high school students through an enhanced understanding of how media information works, based on a collaborative and learner-led approach. We aim to develop knowledge of how to navigate complexity and embrace ambiguity, developed from the principles of Theory of Knowledge and Media and Information Literacy.

Beyond learning in isolation, we will create broader connections between young people, to enhance their understanding of their reality, and to offer them spaces where they can experiment with and experience a knowledge community.

Traces&Dreams AB is the methodological partner focusing on developing the curricula regarding the theory of knowledge and social media literacy.

Channel Conversation on Value

Conversation on Value

Hosted by Valeria Maltoni.

Value in economics is like energy in science – they’re expressions of the same thing. Value is energy in its social form. Therefore it is fluid, captures beauty and awe.

Value in Human Factors for Design with Dr. James Intrilligator

What are the critical elements to consider for design to encourage social justice? How do human factors connect with value - in business and society? Dr James Intrilligator has been working on answering those questions ever since he started exploring vision and the brain. Merging neurology with high-tech applications and consumer psychology led to research on next-generation human-machine systems. In this conversation on value, Intrilligator and Maltoni probe the positives and pitfalls of generative AI, applications in the new era of human factors, social robots and the future of healthcare/assistance, and the importance of applied research.

Questions of language are inevitably intertwined with questions of national/ethnic identity and class (the latter especially in places where there is a legacy of colonialism). The European Union has used multilingualism to promote integration and economic mobility while tempering the spread of English. Fluency, or even just proficiency, in English increasingly becomes a tool for economic mobility and access to global markets, audiences, and conversations. What are the consequences for other languages and identities around the globe, and the pitfalls of English’s dominance for native English speakers? In this episode of conversation on value, Valeria and Rosemary Salomone explore the cultural element of the spread of English – the soft power of English-language in music, movies, television, and social media.

We all want to be treated like human beings. However, this is at odds with the belief that ‘respect is earned.’ If we agree that a baby is invaluable, we also need to acknowledge that there’s inherent value and worth in every person. How can we reconcile the narrative of earning respect with the principle that each human should be treated with dignity? Can we together reach a broader level of social consciousness? What does it mean to lead with dignity? In this conversation on value Valeria Maltoni and Dr. Donna Hicks talk about the value in embracing our own dignity and upholding that of others to heal human connection.

“Machine” has been a prevalent metaphor for business since the Industrial Revolution. And it seems that automated systems of machine learning have become the current direction in search of ever higher efficiency and optimization. But, increasingly, the consequences of this trajectory have had an adverse impact on people. Disengagement on both sides of the business transaction is the most salient and pervasive. People are cultural beings, not resources to be harvested. How can we put value back into things and experiences to enrich culture and ourselves? Ritual design is an overlooked territory within our own commercial culture.

Value in Emotion with Batja Mesquita

Emotions are not innate, but happen between people and signal a taking of a stance in relationships, both one-on-one and within larger social networks. That’s the thesis and argument in Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions. A pioneer of cultural psychology, Batja Mesquita discusses her scientific research and work on emotion with Valeria Maltoni. The conversation ranges from the contours of “shame” and “anger” in different cultures, to the invention and uses of “love” and “happiness” in culture, from how moving away and toward another human being or group works emotionally, to how emotions could tie into stories in the world, rather than being actual mental states.

Value in History How did we get to where we are? We’re generally pretty good at knowing the big things that happened in the past, but we tend to lose much of the nuance of how ideas formed and developed historically. A notion that has become central dogma in economics is due for serious reappraisal – the Free market ideology. Jacob Soll is a University Professor of philosophy, history, and accounting at the University of Southern California. In this conversation on value, Soll and Valeria Maltoni take a stroll down history lane

We all like to think we’re good people, but in a toxic environment, we could go to the dark side. Strong organizational contexts push good people towards unethical decisions. In our conversation, we explore the when, where, and who of taking control over the influence of these dark forces and global value chains.

Dr. Guido Palazzo is Professor of Business Ethics at HEC Lausanne, University of Lausanne. In his research, he is passionate about the dark side of the force and examines unethical decision making from various angles. He is mainly known for his studies on globalization, in particular on human rights violations in global value chains, but he also studies the reasons for unethical behavior in organizations and the impact of organized crime on business and society. Currently, he is examining the illegal toxic waste business of the Italian Mafia. He studied business administration and has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Marburg in Germany.

Learn more about Prof. Guido Palazzo here:
https://wp.unil.ch/hecimpact/people/guido-palazzo/

Nick Parker - A dance between clarity and surprise

Good communication conveys a message clearly. Surprise helps the message stick. But there’s a little bit more to it than that. In this episode of Conversation on Value, Nick and I talk about what it means to find your voice, explain things.

Nick Parker was once the creative director at The Writer. Before that, he spent a decade as a writer, editor, and non-ironic corduroy-wearer at The Oldie magazine. And way back, he was a cartoonist for Viz and a joke-writer for the radio.

A business is one of the greatest problem-solving tools humanity has ever invented. A brand is what happens when a business takes Dolly Parton’s advice to figure out who you are, then do it on purpose.

Value in Use: The solution to Humanity’s value crisis

In this episode, Valeria talks with Peter Tunjic, an experienced lawyer and commercial law theorist based in Melbourne, Australia.
Organizing corporations around the concept of exchange value is making the planet unlivable. The purpose of Peter’s millennia challenge is to develop a lens capable of predicting the current crisis and offering a safer alternative foundation for corporations, corporate law and corporate governance. He calls it the search for Phi.

Peter Tunjic’s research interests intersect corporate law, theory of value and non-equilibrium thermodynamics. In relating physics to corporate law, Peter supports his analysis and advice to clients with rigorous argument and reason. He also writes contracts. Find him at On Directorship. https://ondirectorship.com/

Julie Sedivy - Connecting with Emotion

Value in Language: “Connecting with Emotion” with Julie Sedivy
Julie Sedivy and Valerina talk about the interplay between language and emotion in creating identity and the value of this connection. "We only realize the value of something after we lose it,” says Julie. There’s an "ebb and flow of language in the mind" with migration. Julie says, “languages are the vehicles of our lives. It’s the means through which we communicate our values, and so on.” Language provides cultural context. Preserving the body of work in ancient Greece wouldn’t have been possible without continuity in language. What are the collective cons(equences) of the loss of cultural texture and nuance?
“Learn a language, gain a soul” because we access different parts of ourselves in different languages. E.g., Personality tests (English and Spanish). A Dutch study (English more competitive, Dutch more collaborative). Exposure to anglophone culture. Early childhood tighter emotional connection.

In an age when so much content, including media, is limp and lazy when we're appropriate, precise, and thoughtful about the stories we tell we create value.
Christina Patterson is the author of Outside, the Sky is Blue and The Art of Not Falling Apart. While she’s thinking about the next book, she’s building a coaching practice with a related podcast, The Art of Work. (Guests in the current series include former Twitter VP Bruce Daisley, bestselling writer and palliative care consultant, Kathryn Mannix, internationally renowned cellist Steven Isserlis, classicist and bestselling author Mary Beard and T S Eliot-prize-winning poet, Joelle Taylor.)

What is Value?

“What is value?” is perhaps the most urgent, yet neglected, question of our time.

In the 4th Century BC Aristotle thought the Value Problem concerned the best or most productive use of a thing. Unlike today, he made no distinction between value in use and value in exchange.

Though it is thousands of years old, the Value Problem still matters because it impacts directly the way we live our life, individually and collectively.

Valeria Maltoni is a strategist and linguist at Conversation Agent. Her Alma Mater, the University of Bologna, was founded in 1088 as a cooperative to co-create value in education.

Prof. Dr. Robert Lepenies

Robert Lepenies

Prof. at Karlshochschule Int. University

Biography:

Professor for Pluralist and Heterodox Economics at Karlshochschule International University (from October 1, 2021).
Member of the Global Young Academy (Executive Committee 2019-2021) based at Leopoldina (See his GOOGLE SCHOLAR or ACADEMIA.EDU or RESEARCHGATE profiles).

He holds a Ph.D (Dr. rer. pol.) from the Hertie School of Governance, a MSc in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics, and a BA in PPE from the University of Oxford (The Queen’s College).

His teaching includes and has included courses in: Pluralist Economics, Sustainable Development, Introduction to Political Science, Introduction to Scientific Methods, Globalization Studies, Alternative SocioEconomic Organizations, Environmental Policy and more.

Learn more about Robert's work:

https://karlshochschule.de/en/ https://mwpweb.eu/robertLepenies/

Connect with Robert:

linkedin/robertlepenies twitter/robertlepenies Tik Tok: @thetiktokscientist

What is pluralist and heterodox economics?

Robert Lepenies works on the politics of nudging & on themes in the philosophy of the social sciences (economics), environmental policy (such as water governance), international political economy and the role of (social) sciences in society. He is active at the science-policy interface and has been invited expert, committee member or reviewer for various science organizations such as the International Science Council, Future Earth or the InteracademyPartnership or the EU Joint Research Center (JRC). He is an enthusiastic teacher of all things related to PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics).

He has held post-doctoral positions at the European University Institute (Max Weber Fellowship) and at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB; Center for Global Constitutionalism). He held visiting studentships and fellowships at Yale University (Fulbright-Schuman Grant) and the FU Berlin. He taught politics at the ESCP Europe Business School Berlin and history of economic thought at the Hertie School of Governance Berlin in the MPP program, as well as a seminar in moral philosophy at the FU Berlin (Centre for Advanced Studies Justitia Amplificata and KFG The Transformative Power of Europe). Robert received the inaugural WIWA Young Scholars Award for Pluralism in Economics (2015), as well as the Mulert German Fulbright Association Award for Mutual Understanding (2016) and the A.SK Social Sciences Post-Doctoral Award (2016) and was a research scientist at the UFZ in the department of environmental politics.

He was the project manager of Global Colleagues (now concluded). He has three young kids.

Watch the video:

Biography:

Learn more about Robert's work:

https://karlshochschule.de/en/ https://mwpweb.eu/robertLepenies/

Connect with Robert:

linkedin/robertlepenies twitter/robertlepenies Tik Tok: @thetiktokscientist

Valeria Maltoni

Brand- and Content Strategist

Mikahil Rabiner

Business consultant - Accountant

Mikahela

Kirsten Zerbinis

Content Strategist & Project manager

I am a content strategist with an instinct for finding and using key stories to create impact. I specialize in storytelling techniques, long-form writing, and authentic connections.

I am from Canada, and I live in Sweden with my family.

Fredrik Sjodin

Sales Manager

I come from a long experience working in sales for different companies. Getting paid to do what I like is a dream.
Well-done communication is more important than ever and we at traces&dreams concentrate on helping organizations and companies with this.

I am based in southern Sweden and care for my grown-up children.
I like growing vegetables and cooking especially organic food using ingredients bought directly from farmers. I have strong ties to India where I have many friends.

Merita

Traces&Dreams’ Projects:

Merita

Future Narratives

Traces&Dream`s Projects:

Future Narratives

Fair News

Traces&Dream`s Projects:

Fair News

Channel Conversation on Value

Prof. Dr. Robert Lepenies

Valeria Maltoni

Mikahil Rabiner

Mikahela

Kirsten Zerbinis

Fredrik Sjodin

Traces&Dreams AB

Join the community

Copyright © Traces&Dreams AB 2025

Traces.Dreams content, when republished from other sources or when containing original content, may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the original source, unless stated otherwise.

Privacy Policy

Please fill in the form below and we will contact you very soon