The BMW Group Award for Intercultural Innovation in support of the Alliance of Civilizations, under the auspices of the United Nations aims to identify the most innovative grassroots projects that encourage intercultural exchange around the world. This highly competitive selection process has been set in place to guarantee that selected projects are rewarded for outstanding achievement in creativity, excellence and proven positive impact.

Not-for-profit organizations that are active in the fields of migration and integration; intercultural awareness; education for intercultural citizenship; the role of specific groups (faith-based; women; youth; media) in promoting intercultural understanding, with a track records in managing intercultural projects and willingness to expand their range of action, are eligible to apply.

The Intercultural Innovation Award will be bestowed upon ten organizations.  Winners will become members of the “World Intercultural Facility for Innovation” (WIFI), and the top five will draw from one-year support and consulting from the UNAOC and the BMW Group. The WIFI, a program initiated by the UNAOC in cooperation with the BMW Group, will help winners to become more efficient and to expand, as well as enable their transfer to other contexts or settings where they might be relevant. The specific support received will depend on the individual needs of the projects. A detailed needs assessment will be conducted in conjunction with each of the winners. The UNAOC and the BMW Group and a Mentoring Groupwill 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 Award on the winners.