Intercultural Achievement Award – Center for Intercultural Dialogue

Intercultural Achievement Awards 2024 (Austria)

Call for nominations: Intercultural Achievement Awards, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, Vienna, Austria. Deadline: 17 March 2024.

The Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs is inviting applications for the Intercultural Achievement Award – a prize for outstanding, innovative intercultural and interreligious projects from Austria and abroad. The award highlights best practices and promotes the work of dialogue projects from all over the world with prize money and opportunities for international networking. Both domestic and international organisations that are committed to intercultural and interreligious dialogue in the fields of art and culture, youth, human rights, global citizenship education, integration and gender equality are eligible to apply.

Since 2014, the award has received over 1,913 submissions from 110 different countries, illustrating its growing recognition. In 2024, the winning projects will receive prize money of 6,000 to 10,000 euros. Recognition prizes of 3,000 euros may also be awarded.

The Intercultural Achievement Award is presented in the following categories:

Sustainability: Best ongoing intercultural and/or interreligious project focusing on the environment
Recent Events: Best intercultural and/or interreligious project related to a current event
Technology: Best application of technology to support an intercultural and/or interreligious project
Innovation: Most innovative intercultural and/or interreligious project
Media: Best media contribution for intercultural and/or interreligious understanding
Integration in Austria
Best Austrian project in the categories of Sustainability, Recent Events, Technology, or Innovation

Intercultural Innovation Award Recipients 2023

2023 winners of the Intercultural Innovation Hub Award, a program developed by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and BMW Group, have now been announced.

Ten global grassroots initiatives have been named finalists of the prestigious Intercultural Innovation Hub Award during an Awards Ceremony held in Berlin on May 24, 2023. The Intercultural Innovation Hub recognizes and supports grassroots initiatives that promote intercultural dialogue and understanding, and contribute to peace, cultural diversity, and inclusive societies. The winners were:

Inspire (Indonesia) – Pledge United
Mais Diferenças (Brazil) – Literature in Multiple Accessible Formats
Oasis ‘Reach For Your Dreams’ (South Africa) – Community Street Football/Netball
Tech2Peace (Israel) – A New Reality: Israelis and Palestinians Innovating Together
Fundación Ixcanul (Guatemala) – Itinerant Travelling Cinema
Programa Adopte un Talento / PAUTA (Mexico) – Empowering Girls and Adolescent Girls from Vulnerable Groups and Communities in Mexico with Science
Welcoming Australia (Australia) – Welcoming Cities
Wasel for Awareness and Education (Jordan) – Shabbek Wa Bader
SWANS Initiative (Germany) – More Leylas in Leadership
Fundación Barranquilla+20 (Colombia) – Women for Climate Justice

Intercultural Innovation Award Finalists 2021

2021 winners of the Intercultural Innovation Award, a program developed by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and BMW Group, have now been announced.

Ten global grassroots initiatives have been named finalists of the prestigious Intercultural Innovation Award during an Awards Ceremony held in Dubai on November 19, 2021. This year, the selection process was highly competitive, with over 1,100 applications received from 120 countries. The winners are:

International Trustbuilding – Initiatives of Change International (Switzerland)
Knitting a Better Future – La Cana, Productos con Causa (Mexico)
Dialogue on the Human Fraternity Document – Mediterranean Youth Foundation (Egypt)
MITTI Café, Inclusion with Every Meal – MITTI Social Initiative Foundation (India)
Arrival Advisor – PeaceGeeks Society (Canada)
Emerging Leaders – PLACE Network (France)
Politize! Ambassadors Program: Promoting Civic Empowerment for All – Politize! Civic Education Institute (Brazil)
Always Remember, Never Forget – Spielen in der Stadt (Germany)
Creative Youth Boot Camp: Art for Social Transformation – Street Project Foundation (Nigeria)
SMART Advocates: For Effective Dialogue to Address the Grassroots Conflicts – Strengthening Youth Leadership Collective (Sri Lanka)

Besides the financial support of 200,000 USD (to be divided equally across the 10 selected projects), award winners will benefit from professional project guidance from the BMW Group, UNAOC, and the business consulting firm Accenture. Recipients will also receive managerial and strategic project support and become part of the “Intercultural Leaders” network, which connects professionals and managers across the globe.

Videos describing each of the projects and organizations available here.

Intercultural Achievement Awards 2021 (Austria)

Call for nominations: Intercultural Achievement Awards, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, Vienna, Austria. Deadline: 6 June 2021.

The Intercultural Achievement Award (IAA) is a key project for intercultural dialogue of the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. The award honours successful and innovative projects in the field of intercultural and interreligious dialogue, both in Austria and on a global scale. The award is open to all those who identify and make use of opportunities which positively shape intercultural co-existence. It also rewards those who successfully break new ground in intercultural dialogue, who have mastered a specific challenge through intercultural action, and who promote the dialogue of cultures and religions through their media presence.

Organizers are looking for both large and small projects implemented by organisations or individuals. The IAA specifically promotes intercultural and inter religious projects in the fields of Arts/Culture, Youth, Human Rights, Global Citizenship Education and Integration. The projects need to be either in the process of being implemented or already completed. Applications are open to both non-profit organizations and commercial organisations. Individuals from civil society can also participate.

Intercultural Achievement Awards 2020 (Austria)

Call for nominations: Intercultural Achievement Awards, Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, Austria. Deadline: 15 June 2020.

The Intercultural Achievement Award (IAA) is a key project for intercultural dialogue of the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. The award honours successful and innovative projects in the field of intercultural dialogue, both in Austria and on a global scale. The award is open to all those who identify and make use of opportunities which positively shape intercultural co-existence. It also rewards those who successfully break new ground in intercultural dialogue, who have mastered a specific challenge through intercultural action, and who promote the dialogue of cultures and religions through their media presence.

Organizers are looking for both large and small projects implemented by organisations or individuals. The IAA specifically promotes intercultural projects in the fields of Arts/Culture, Youth, Human Rights, Global Citizenship Education and Integration. Applications are open to both non-profit and commercial organisations. Individuals from civil society can also participate.

In view of the global COVID19-crisis 2020, special projects dedicated to coping with restriction and consequences of this crisis will be eligible for the award in all categories. However, special emphasis should be given to the aspect of people of different background living together and countering prejudice and fear. It is possible to select several categories in one submission.

Intercultural Innovation Awards 2019

Intercultural Innovation Award, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and BMW Group. Deadline: 31 May 2019.

Grassroots initiatives that encourage intercultural understanding through innovative methods, with the aim of alleviating identity-based conflicts around the world, are encouraged to apply. Ten organizations will be selected to receive the Intercultural Innovation Award. Based on their needs, recipients will receive a monetary grant to help their projects expand and replicate (total funding available in 2019: USD 100,500). They will also benefit from a one-year mentoring program, which will include capacity-building training in a multitude of areas, from communications to fundraising and project management. Recipients of the Intercultural Innovation Award will also become members of Intercultural Leaders, an exclusive skill and knowledge-sharing digital platform for civil society organizations and young leaders working in the field of intercultural dialogue.

Intercultural Achievement Awards from Austria

The Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs will reward successful and solution-oriented intercultural dialogue projects. Are you ‒ or anyone in your network ‒ involved in a project that promotes intercultural dialogue and fits the criteria? If so, they would love to hear from you. They consider initiatives active in one or more of these fields: Art/Culture, Youth, Human Rights, Global Citizenship Education, and Integration. Deadline: 26th of March 2018

The Intercultural Achievement Award 2018 will be awarded for the best project in each of these five categories:

SUSTAINABILITY: Best ongoing project with sustainable impact (Prize: EUR 10.000,-)
RECENT EVENTS: Best project with reference to current issues (Prize: EUR 5.000,-)
INNOVATION: Most innovative intercultural project (Prize: EUR 5.000,-)
MEDIA: Best media contribution for intercultural understanding (Prize: EUR 5.000,-)
INTEGRATION IN AUSTRIA: This category is only available to projects which are active and located within Austria (Prize: EUR 5.000,-)

Both large- and small-scale projects within the four categories implemented by organisations or individuals qualify as potential award winners. The projects need to be either in the process of being implemented or already concluded.