The Intercultural Innovation Hub

Overview

Who can apply?

Eligible to apply for the Intercultural Innovation Hub are not-for-profit organizations implementing projects focused on promoting intercultural dialogue and fostering diverse and inclusive societies, and who are willing to expand their range of action. Examples include projects in the fields of promoting gender equality, preventing xenophobia, violent extremism, and hate speech, promoting the use of sport, art and culture as tools to drive social change and foster social inclusion, supporting the LGBTQI+ community and championing gender diversity, as well as advocating for disability rights and disability inclusion. The Intercultural Innovation Hub does not support one-time events (e.g. festivals, events, conferences. etc.).

Organizations that submit a project to the competition need to fulfill each and every one of the following criteria to be deemed eligible:

• Organizations must be registered as a not-for-profit organization, such as a non-governmental organization, charitable organization, research and educational institution, labor union, indigenous group, faith-based organization, professional association, foundation and local or municipal branches of government.
• Applying organizations must have been operational for a minimum of 2 years before March 2024; with funding base and project implementation (i.e. the organization must show registration as non-profit in their country of operation by March 2022 or earlier).
• Applying organizations must be managing a project focused on promoting intercultural dialogue and fostering diverse and inclusive societies, and who are willing to expand their range of action. Examples include projects in the fields of promoting gender equality, preventing xenophobia, violent extremism, and hate speech, promoting the use of sport, art and culture as tools to drive social change and foster social inclusion.
• The applying organization must have the willingness to expand the range of action of the project with UNAOC, the BMW Group and Accenture.
• Organizations that have previously received any UNAOC support are not eligible to apply to the Intercultural Innovation Hub.
• Projects that have been submitted to previous editions of the Intercultural Innovation Hub and were not selected, are eligible and encouraged to apply again. However, applying organizations cannot have been participants of previous editions of the UNAOC Marketplace of Ideas or BMW Group Awards.

How are Intercultural Innovation Recipients selected?

Shortlisted projects will be evaluated against a comprehensive set of criteria. These criteria include three main categories:

THE PROJECT

• Relevance – is appropriate for the targeted audience and in the local context where implemented, taking into account the necessity of the project, challenges posed by Covid-19, and which SDG it is tackling.
• Quality – undertakes an in-depth analysis of problems/issues and sets a consistent intervention strategy.
• Clarity – sets clear objectives and draws a logical connection between activities, outputs and outcomes.
• Innovation – pushes beyond typical approaches and excels in the use of original and novel methods (social media, arts, pedagogical approach, innovative training etc.).
• Measurability – impact of the project is measurable (i.e. number of beneficiaries, polls on attitude change, assessment of behavioral changes, clear policy changes, etc.)
• Sustainability – demonstrates ability to be sustainable in the mid-long term.
• Replicability – has the capacity to be replicated and scaled up in different settings. This is a key evaluation criterion.

THE ORGANIZATION

• Organizational structure – is capable of achieving the goals set in the project.
• Intercultural commitment – has proven interest and commitment in fostering diverse and inclusive societies (e.g. past reports, reference letters, etc.).
• Work plan and budget – has set a realistic budget to replicate or expand the project.
• Transparency – has made genuine and demonstrated efforts to adopt a policy of transparency.
• Equality – has adopted equality and diversity policies as reflected in staff members, membership and activities.

THE APPLICATION

• Clarity – shows an effective communication of ideas and provides relevant examples.
• Conciseness – provides clear and concise responses to questions.
• Persuasiveness – includes insightful arguments and engaging narrative.
• The application text must show an effective communication of ideas and provide relevant examples, provide clear and concise responses to questions, and include insightful arguments and engaging narrative.

Funding

Recipients will receive funding to be used for project expansion and/or replication of their project. The total amount of the funding pool is up to USD 200,000 distributed evenly between the finalists.

Other Benefits

• TRAINING AND CAPACITY-BUILDING
• CUSTOMIZED SUPPORT AND MENTORING
• RECOGNITION AND VISIBILITY
• MEMBERSHIP TO “INTERCULTURAL LEADERS”

For details of previous awardees, visit the website here