We build global and local networks for whole-system impact.
Global system change requires building networks at different levels and with diverse people. This is why, from the beginning, Marco Polo Project has engaged with a large and varied group of international partners.
Since 2011 we have worked with aligned organisations to bring together diverse communities, across a range of projects. On this page, we celebrate some of the main partners we worked with over the years.
Universities
Melbourne University – Faculty of Business and Economic
Since 2016, we have been hosting practicum graduate students from Melbourne Business School. In 2017, a team from Melbourne Business School helped us design one of our flagship programs, Out of the Box.
Monash University – Centre for Translation and Interpretation
Since 2014, we have run a number of workshops, seminars and professional development courses in partnership with Monash University on collaborative translation and translation in the context of technological change.
RMIT University
RMIT is a global university of technology and design and Australia’s largest tertiary institution. We took part in the ‘Writing and Concepts’ talk series organised by RMIT in August 2017, offering a presentation on ‘Looking for Common Ground’.
La Trobe University was a key partner in the Marco Polo Festival of Digital Literature, and invited us to present the Marco Polo translation model at a range of conferences and events.
In 2014, we delivered a lectured as part of the Sydney Ideas program under the title ‘A Journey through Digital China’. The lecture is available here
Language And Cultures Network for Australian Universities
We presented the Marco Polo Project at the first LCNAU conference in 2011, and have since been presenting various iterations of our work at all successive conferences.
In 2016, we were invited to run a guest session as part of the Masters of Cultural Management at Paris-IV Sorbonne University on the topic of global cultural collaboration.
School of Oriental and African Studies
SOAS University of London is the only Higher Education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East. We ran a pilot collaborative translation event with SOAS as part of the 2014 Marco Polo Digital Literature Festival.
Schools
Raffles Institution
We conducted two collaborative translation events in 2016 with students in the International baccalaureate stream of Raffles Institution, Singapore.
Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School
In 2017, we partnered with Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School for the first pilot of our flagship program, Design for Diversity. We conducted a further pilot in 2018, and are currently partnering with Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School for the first pilot of Froj’
Other educational institutions
Monash College
We partnered with Monash College in 2017-2018 to develop the first pilots of our Out of the Box program.
New Dream English
New Dream English have been supporting our work since 2015. Founder Michael Zuo is a founding member of Marco Polo Peer-Lab, and New Dream English has hosted a range of experimental pilots for emerging projects conducted under Marco Polo Project.
Design for Social Impact Leadership
We contributed a virtual classroom on the art of storytelling to the 2016 DSIL course program.
School of Slow Media
The mission of Jump Foundation is to Empower Global Citizens through Experiential Education. We contributed to Jump Foundation Australian global citizenship program, offering a day of training to their associate Ivanhoe Grammar on engaging with international students
Level Up English
Level Up English is an English language school based in the heart of the Melbourne CBD. From 2016-2018, Level Up English hosted the Marco Polo Translation Club
Government supporters
Australia China Council
Victorian Multicultural Commission supported the Marco Polo Festival of Digital Literature, Marco Polo Manual and Marco Polo Peer-Lab.
City of Yarra
The City of Yarra supported the organisation of collaborative translation events with Richmond West Primary School in 2016.
Festivals & cultural institutions
In 2014, we partnered with Melbourne Writers Festival to run the first Marco Polo Festival of Digital Literature – exploring how readers, writers and translators in Australia and China have made use of digital tools for their engagement with the written word.
In 2016, we organised a full day event as part of the Melbourne Chinese Writers Festival, co-organised by Writers Victoria.
In 2014, 2015 and 2016, we contributed workshops to Melbourne Knowledge week, on ‘Language as a form of knowledge’, ‘Mapping language and culture’ and ‘For a China ready knowledge economy’.
We facilitated a workshop on behalf of the French consulate in Melbourne to re-calibrate French language education in Victoria, and presented a conference at the 2017 Bastille Day Festival on ‘the future of language education.
The China Story Project is a web-based account of contemporary China created by the Australian Centre on China in the World (CIW) in the College of Asia & the Pacific at The Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. We contributed articles to the ‘Think China’ section of The China Story website.
In 2012-2013, we contributed a weekly review of the Chinese blogosphere on Danwei under the title ‘1510 digest’. Danwei has since ceased publishing, and been reborn as the remarkable ‘SupChina‘.
In 2014, we partnered with the Beijing Bookworm on the first Marco Polo Festival of Digital Literature – bringing together readers, writers and translators from Australia and China who embraced new digital tools as part of their practice.
Books Actually
We organised a collaborative translation event with Books Actually as part of the 2015 Singapore Writers Festival, in the wake of the Marco Polo Festival of Digital Literature. The event was praised as one of the first that brought together local Chinese- and English-language writers in a mutually fruitful conversation.
Peril Magazine is is an online magazine focused on issues of Asian-Australian arts and culture. Peril published a piece from Marco Polo Project on Translating Asian Voices in Australia, took part in the 2014 Marco Polo Festival, and later invited us to join their Docklands ‘Renew Australia’ office.
Chin communications is a leading translation and interpreting Chinese-English agency based in Melbourne. Chin supported the Marco Polo Festival of Digital literature – offering a memorable interpretation of our ‘City-to-City Beijing’ session with Melbourne Writers Festival. Chin founder Charles Qin was a keynote speaker at our Melbourne Knowledge Week ‘Marco Polo Marathon’.
Yeeyan
During the 2014 Marco Polo Festival of Digital Literature, we organised joint translation events with Yeeyan, China’s #1 crowdsourced/ community translation website.
Community organisations
The Foundation for Young Australians has been supporting Marco Polo Project by offering office space on their Asia Desk, and more recently hosting the weekly Marco Polo Translation Club Melbourne
Asia Education Foundation
Asia Education Foundation (AEF) supports educators and school communities to develop Asia capable young Australians. We have supported the AEF ambassador program by delivering storytelling sessions in high schools and primary schools.
Australia-China Youth Association
ACYA has been a long-standing partner of Marco Polo Project, supporting the organisation of workshops and pilot events at Melbourne and Monash university, featuring us at their Sydney Home event, and supporting our engagement with young people.
Language Connection
Since the start of our operations, we have collaborated closely with Language Connection, Melbourne’s #1 community organisation for language exchange. Areas of collaboration include joint events and facilitator training.
Technology & innovation
We used Pozible on two occasions to raise funding for our web upgrade and events. Pozible has been a long-term supporter of Marco Polo Project. Pozible hosted the Marco Polo team in the lead up to the Marco Polo Festival of Digital Literature, and Pozible co-founder Rick Chen appeared on panels at events that we organised.
Italki
italki is an online language learning website which connects language learners and teachers through video chat. Marco Polo Project took part in the 2016 Language Conference organised by Italki with NYU Shanghai.
Hacking Chinese
Clavis Sinica
The Clavis Sinica software was developed by a faculty member at the University of Michigan as a supplementary learning tool for English-speaking students of the Chinese language. We contributed content to a Clavis Sinica reading App for high intermediate / advanced learners.
The York Butter Factory is Australia’s centre of technological innovation since 2011. York Butter Factory graciously hosted our very first 2013 ‘All you can translate’ event in their Melbourne bluestone space.
Hub Melbourne
We were supported by Hub Melbourne through the early years of our growth, with a sponsored co-working space in 2012-2013. Marco Polo Project contributed a global perspective to the Hub Melbourne community, and organised community events on language education.
China Australia Millennial Project (CAMP)
Marco Polo Project founder coordinated recruitment and summit operations for the first CAMP Sydney summit in 2015, and Marco Polo Project supported CAMP through referrals and a joint Hackathon in 2016 as part of Melbourne Knowledge Week – For a China-ready knowledge economy
Global Challenges Foundation
The Global Challenges Foundation’s objective is to contribute to minimising, preferably eliminating, the major global threats to humanity. We ran a workshop on the art of editing with the Global Challenges Foundation, and our founder/CEO has worked with them as editor-in-chief since 2016.
Mivote
MiVote is a democracy start-up, incubated through the Centre for the Future, that plans to use the internet and mobile devices for voters to set the direction of their country. MiVote hosted the development of the Switch-On Project through the early design and prototyping phase..
Marco Polo Project 