Mondialogo honours the winners of the largest international school contest in Beijing

Beijing – During the Symposium of the Mondialogo School Contest – the largest global contest for school students – the winners were announced during a Gala evening ceremony tonight in Beijing.

The first prize went to the partner teams from the Lebanon and Serbia, which convinced the jury with their project work regarding inclusive education. The school students worked on a joint concept for a playground specifically adapted for disabled children. The playground is meant to be a safe place to play and learn about each other’s culture. The first prize is awarded with 1,500 Euro for each team.

For the concept of a mobile bike library the jury honoured the partner team Indonesia – Ukraine with the second award, endowed with 1,000 Euro. The self-written and illustrated story books are intended to promote reading.

The third trophy is shared between the partner teams of Germany – Mexico and Syrian Arab Republic – United Stated of America. The Syrian-American team asked refugee children to paint their memories and hopes and created a book. The students from Germany and Mexico put pin boards in their schools to collect questions and answers regarding immigration. Through this interactive exchange the students were able to gain new insights about the challenges of migration and integration. Both partner teams will receive 500 Euro each for their efforts.

For the first time, there was a special prize for “sustainability”. The team Russia – Turkey conducted a research on the effects of global warming on agriculture and water supply in both countries. Moreover they produced practical information material regarding environmental protection and the stainable use of resources.

With a second special prize for “cultural diversity” the partner team Benin – United States of America was honoured. They created a joint quilt tapestry made of pieces of fabric from both countries reflecting the cultural variety.

“Only a few teams could come out on top, but all participants in the Mondialogo School Contest are winners. These young people are truly global citizens. They have overcome cultural differences and demonstrated fundamental qualities like respect and understanding during their creative project work”, said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG.

The Director-General of UNESCO thanked the partners and the National Commission of the People Republic of China and the Experimental High School Attached to Normal University of Beijing for hosting the third Mondialogo school contest symposium in Beijing, and congratulated all the one hundred participants for their success of the event.

For the third Mondialogo School Contest 36,000 school students from 140 countries between the ages 14 and 18 had applied for the award. In total 2,740 teams worked together on joint projects over continents, like photo documentations, collages, music and theatre pieces, sculptures and internet pages. The best 25 partner teams attended the Mondialogo Symposium in Beijing from September 25 – 28, 2008. School students from 36 countries met here for the first time. At workshops and colloquia they discussed the significance of cultural exchange and presented their results to a prestigious jury which decided on the winners.

The aim of the global contest, initiated by Daimler and UNESCO since 2003, is the dialogue between secondary school students from different cultural backgrounds and continents, who work together on a joint project. Through the conduct of intercultural projects, school students are intended to develop understanding, solidarity, tolerance and respect for people with different cultures, religions, languages and origins.

In addition to the worldwide school contest, the Mondialogo initiative also includes the Engineering Award encouraging intercultural dialogue and knowledge transfer between industrialized and developing countries, as well as an internet portal in five languages with an intercultural magazine. Ambassadors of the Mondialogo initiative include the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho and Swedish writer Henning Mankell.