The Intercultural Innovation Award 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.
Since 2009, the UNAOC Marketplace of Ideas has received hundreds of proposals submitted by organizations from around the world. The Marketplace of Ideas has selected selects innovative and grassroots projects that contribute to mutual understanding and cooperation among peoples and cultures, helping overcome cultural, religious and ethnic tensions that could otherwise lead to conflict.
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.