BMW and the UN Spark Intercultural Innovation

Image by Barbara*

In our 2009 book, Imagination First, Eric Liu and I discuss “challenge awards” as catalysts for imaginative thought and action. We especially like challenges that are open-ended and have broad parameters, that not only call for solutions—as those with a narrow, specific purpose do—but invite people to dream up new goals as well. The Award for Intercultural Innovation, announced last week, is just such an expansive challenge. Its sweeping aim: to honor “highly innovative projects that promote exchange and cross-cultural understanding, and hence make a vital contribution to safety and peace in societies around the world.”