The
Project

Mission

OUR MISSION IS TO CONNECT, EMPOWER AND ELEVATE

We…

  • CONNECT people and cultures by building an ever-growing community of intercultural change-makers and fostering dialogue on a local, regional and global level.
  • EMPOWER grassroots organizations by enabling them to reach their full potential, so they can contribute to a more just and inclusive society.
  • ELEVATE and scale up social innovations by offering holistic and long-lasting support to organizations who want to expand their range of action.

WHERE DO WE COME FROM?

The partnership between the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and the BMW Group started in 2011 as an initiative to recognize grassroots projects promoting intercultural dialogue.

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Today, it is a lot more than that and has grown to a full-scale support programme with an associated community. With this holistic approach the initiative has even more impact on the organizations‘ development and therefore on social change itself.

BENEFITS

​​The initiative has evolved from an award to a full-scale programme which offers holistic support to up to 10 carefully selected organizations each cycle. We promote innovative social projects that connect people and cultures. With the Sustainable Developments Goals always in mind, one of our main objectives is to successfully scale up these projects.

Recipients will benefit from a comprehensive one-year capacity-building program aimed at strengthening their work. The support program will consist of funding, training and capacity-building, mentoring and opportunities to participate in global and regional events. Support will also be provided to successful projects so that they can be replicated in other contexts or settings where they might be relevant.

A detailed needs assessment will be conducted in conjunction with each of the recipients. UNAOC and the BMW Group, with the support of Accenture, will then mobilize resources to help those projects achieve their goals. After one year, a comprehensive evaluation will be performed in order to assess the impact of the programme on successful projects.