Third Capacity-Building Workshop for Intercultural Innovation Awardees held in São Paulo by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the BMW Group

In Brazil from 22 to 25 June 2015, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and BMW Group hosted a workshop in collaboration with the BMW Foundation and Vaga Lume, an organization based in São Paulo who received the Intercultural Innovation Award in 2011.

Participating in the workshop was the eleven current recipients of the Intercultural Innovation Award, coming from Australia, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Lebanon, Rwanda, Sweden and USA. The awardees received training on monitoring and evaluation, and the effective use of social media. They also had the opportunity to discuss issues on intercultural barriers and funding for non-profits with local foundations including Instituto Alana, GIFE, Arapyau, the Roberto Marinho Foundation and the BMW Foundation.

The workshop finished with an inspiring day of field visits, firstly to meet the community at the Culture Center of Fundação Tide Setubal in São Miguel Paulista and then to the Impact Hub to discuss issues on racism and immigration with Sistema Negro and CRAI São Paulo. The final event of the day was a traditional Brazilian Festa Junina party, where workshop participants had the opportunity to meet teenagers from the Vaga Lume Net Program, the project for which Vaga Lume received the Intercultural Innovation Award in 2011. The Net Program provides an exchange experience between teenagers from São Paulo and rural communities in the Amazon, thus promoting intercultural dialogue.

The training in São Paulo is part of the one-year support program provided to recipients of the Intercultural Innovation Award. The main objective of the workshop was to build the capacity of awardees in increasing the long-term impact and sustainability of their projects, such that the projects can expand and replicate in other contexts. The mandate of the Intercultural Innovation Award is to select highly innovative and sustainable grassroots projects that promote intercultural dialogue and understanding, while making vital contributions to global peace and prosperity.

The next edition of the Intercultural Innovation Award is currently open for applications. Interested organizations can apply at interculturalinnovation.org. The deadline for applications is Wednesday, 30 September 2015 at 5:00pm in New York.