Qatar Foundation launches the first ever WISE AWARDS to recognise outstanding innovation in education

London (PRWeb UK) June 14, 2009

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, initiator of the first ever World Innovation Summit for Education - WISE dedicated to monitoring the specific impact of 21st century challenges on education, announces today the launch of one of the key highlights of the WISE summit to be held next November in Doha Qatar with the inaugural WISE Awards 2009 - Innovative Education Practice Awards.

Highlighting the importance of the Awards initiative of the WISE summit, Dr. Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Chairman of WISE and Vice President of Education, Qatar Foundation, explained: "For the first edition, the WISE Awards 2009 will honour innovative, education-related projects and initiatives - tools, practices or processes - that have fostered distinctive cross-educational collaboration."

The WISE Awards are focussed on rewarding a total of six concrete achievements from around the world across three categories aligned with the Forum's main themes of Pluralism, Sustainability and Innovation."

• Pluralism: "Educational activities that explicitly generate greater respect and understanding between communities, enhance diversity, or increase access and equality to education."
• Sustainability: "Initiatives that offer new approaches to educational sustainability (through appropriate funding mechanisms, good governance, suitable accreditation and quality control structure) thereby contributing to the creation of sustainable global societies."
• Innovation: "Educational activities that use information and communication technologies and other innovative means to generate new and exciting opportunities for access and delivery of learning content that better enabled people to face the diversity of today's challenges."

From May 1st to July 15th, 2009, online submissions from both individuals and teams are invited, and must be endorsed by a senior officer of a relevant organisation. All applications - to be submitted in English - are welcome from all sectors of education and all types of organisations located anywhere in the world. WISE Awards submissions are now open online.

45 short-listed applications (15 in each category) will be reviewed by an International Jury, consisting of 10 of the world's leading experts in pluralism, sustainability and innovation in education, drawn from public institutions, civil society, the private sector, international organisations, universities and social entrepreneurs.

An official awards ceremony to be held on November 17 during the WISE Summit will officially announce the six WISE Awards. Each recipient will receive a grant of $20,000 and the WISE Award winning projects will be showcased during the World Innovation Summit for Education organized by Qatar Foundation to be held in Doha, Qatar from November 16th to 18th 2009.

Application forms and further details on the Innovative Education Practice Awards are now available. Deadline for applications is July 15th 2009.

###