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The BMW Group Award for Intercultural Innovation in support of the Alliance of Civilizations, under the auspices of the United Nations (The Intercultural Innovation Award) aims to identify the most innovative grassroots projects that encourage intercultural exchange around the world. This highly competitive selection process has been set in place to guarantee that selected projects are rewarded for outstanding achievement in creativity, excellence and proven positive impact.
Intercultural dialogue, understanding and cooperation is a process whereby people from different cultural backgrounds and systems of beliefs interact, communicate, negotiate and enrich themselves. In this process, individuals exchange concepts and perceptions and build a shared vision of society and the world. Beyond just peaceful coexistence, interculturality is a dynamic process that helps individuals and communities to learn about and understand other cultures. Furthermore, it enables individuals to move away from isolationist and mistrustful attitudes and it encourages them to embrace diversity as a core value of peaceful and sustainable societies.
In the past decades, numerous projects and programs around the world have addressed issues related to cultures in contact with each other. However, in this fast changing world, where social media and the Internet are continuously shaping our perceptions and scientific developments are allowing faster travel and communication, innovation in the field of intercultural exchanges appears to be essential.
Both the UNAOC and the BMW Group are strongly committed to creativity and innovation. Indeed, the Dialogue Café initiative or the Rapid Response Media Mechanism are only two examples of the UNAOC’s commitment in increasing intercultural understanding through novel methods. Correspondingly, the BMW Group is a leading innovative company in the use of new approaches to corporate responsibility.
For that reason, the Award acknowledges brave initiatives that dare to think outside the box, rethinking intercultural work and making an important use of new methods to promote intercultural understanding and cooperation. The Award represents a unique platform for civil society organizations committed to the promotion of cultural diversity and understanding.
The Award
The top ten winners of the 2011 edition have been given a monetary grant at the Awards Ceremony in Doha in December 2011.
Based on a case to case needs assessment, winners are being supported from the WIFI team in order to replicate and scale up their projects. They are also benefiting from partner organizations that mentor Awardees in collaboration with the UNAOC and the BMW Group. This support varies depending on the nature of the project and includes IT support, legal advice, increasing visibility, etc.
Application process if now closed. Like us on Facebook to learn about events and the 2012 competition.
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