Through a global call for submissions for The Intercultural Innovation Award, the UNAOC and the BMW Group will select the most innovative projects that contribute to mutual understanding and cooperation among peoples and cultures and to overcome cultural, religious and ethnic tensions that could otherwise lead to conflict. The first Award Ceremony will take place in Doha, Qatar in December 2011, during the IVth Annual Forum of the UNAOC held in the presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and world leaders.
Winner projects will become members of the World Intercultural Facility for Innovation (WIFI), a new flagship program of the UNAOC in collaboration with the BMW Group. The WIFI will serve as a mechanism to promote and support innovation in the field of intercultural relations. It will connect inspiring grassroots projects with media, donors, governments and other partners in order to help them in scaling up, replicating and achieving a broader and greater impact. The WIFI builds up in the experience of past editions of the UNAOC’s Marketplace of Ideas and the venerable tradition of the BMW Group Award for Intercultural Learning/Commitment.
The 2009 Marketplace of Ideas selected 20 grassroots projects benefited from an increasing visibility and became part of a network of cultural innovators, sponsors and partners. The Award Ceremony was held at the UNAOC Forum in Istanbul (April 6-7 2009). For the 2010 Marketplace of Ideas, the top ten projects were given the opportunity to present their initiatives during a plenary session at the UNAOC Annual Forum in Rio de Janeiro (May 28-29 2010), in the presence of heads of state, legislators and an influential network of civil society leaders, media and corporations.
The BMW Group, with its multinational and diverse workforce, has long been committed to promoting intercultural understanding. Since 1997 with its renowned Award for Intercultural Learning, and more recently with the Award for Intercultural Commitment, the BMW Group has continuously supported innovative projects and committed individuals all around the world who have implemented their visions of an intercultural, cosmopolitan society into reality.
KEY GOALS SUPPORTED BY THE WIFI
- Promoting intercultural understanding and cooperation among ethno-religious communities;
- Strengthening the role of media in enhancing intercultural understanding;
- Fostering integration of migrants in urban areas;
- Advancing cultural dialogue through education;
- Encouraging the role of specific groups (women, youth, etc.) in enhancing cross-cultural understanding and cooperation;
- Using technology, social media and to facilitate intercultural understanding.
Stay Connected