Fostering sustainable partnerships to build bridges of understanding. BMW Group Award for Intercultural Commitment is celebrating its global premiere.

Munich. With its Award for Intercultural Commitment, presented for the first time in 2010, the BMW Group intends to intensify its efforts to bridge the gap between different cultures. Applicants with promising ideas that promote intercultural understanding are invited to submit their project proposals by 31 May 2010. The top three applicants will be announced at the award ceremony hosted in Munich on 18 November 2010. To turn their ideas into thriving projects, the BMW Group will support them with prize money and a customized package of services. The company’s goal is to assist the teams behind the honored initiatives in establishing sustainable model concepts for intercultural understanding worldwide.

Cultural complexity – a challenge for society and individuals

Dealing with multinational cultural contexts has become a staple of modern society: Increasing migration as well as new dimensions of mobility and virtual communication have made intercultural dialog a regular way of life for many people. And while this diversity of languages, religions, cultures and milieus brings about great opportunities for both individuals and national societies, it is also a great challenge for all of us.

Fresh impetus to new networks of intercultural understanding

“To make intercultural understanding work, it is necessary to establish a multifaceted culture that is open to people from different cultural backgrounds and environments,” emphasizes Harald Krüger, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG and Chairman of the award competition. “The BMW Group Award for Intercultural Commitment is intended to make a contribution by motivating people to enter into an open dialog and pull together.”

Sustainable partnerships promoting vision, commitment, and expertise

The new Award for Intercultural Commitment does not only honor the best submissions and present teams with prize money. Its core element is to support innovative visions with BMW Group expertise by turning them into successful and internationally transferable projects. This is why the call for submissions specifically asks applicants to include not only their project proposal but also details about the support services they require. The company then presents the three award winners, who are chosen by a jury panel of international experts, with a customized service offering to help them implement their project idea. This offer is based on the company’s core competences, including mobility support, knowledge transfer and help with practical issues.

International commitment combining tradition and innovation

It goes without saying that the BMW Group, with its workforce of over 100,000 employees and production facilities worldwide, expertly deals with a great number of different cultures. The promotion of intercultural understanding has long been a vital element of the company’s social commitment. So the new award builds on a venerable tradition: Since 1997, more than 40 prizes have been awarded by the internationally renowned BMW Group Award for Intercultural Learning to global projects that have been instrumental in fostering multicultural societies.

For further information on the BMW Group Award for Intercultural Commitment and on application requirements please see www.bmwgroup.com/award.

If you have any questions please contact:

Konstanze Carreras

BMW Group

Corporate Communications

Award for Intercultural Commitment

80788 Munich, Germany