WISE Awards 2011 now open for submissions

Innovative educational projects from all regions of the world and from all educational sectors may now be entered for the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) Awards 2011 at www.wise-qatar.org The submissions deadline is 31 May 2011.

This third round of the annual WISE Awards will continue to highlight successful initiatives under the theme Transforming education: Investment, Innovation and Inclusion. The six projects judged to have the most positive impact upon education and societies will be showcased and rewarded at the WISE 2011 Summit n Doha, Qatar, 1-3 November.

The winners will receive the recognition of a Jury of eminent experts and an award of $20,000 (US). They also gain media visibility which helps promote their work and connect them with a global community. 

HE Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, PhD, Chairman of WISE and Chairman of the WISE Awards Jury, said: “There is a need to highlight best practices because they can inspire other projects and be of use to practitioners and learners around the world. I encourage people engaged in innovative projects to share their successes, and I truly look forward to discovering new models that have had a significant impact on improving peoples’ lives.”

One of the WISE Awards winning projects in 2009 was The Self-Sufficient School model, initiated by Martin Burt at Fundacion Paraguaya. This model has been successfully replicated in 27 countries across Latin America and Africa.

Tove Wang from Save The Children and a WISE Award winner in 2010 for Rewrite the Future, says “We are immensely proud to have won the WISE Award.  It has raised our profile as an agency that can deliver for children at scale, and it has given us access to important political arenas where education in conflict is discussed.”

The 2011 WISE Awards Jury includes:

- Dr Abdul Waheed Khan - President, Talal Abu Ghazaleh Business University, Kingdom of Bahrain

- Mr Rodrigo Baggio, Founder and Executive Director, Centre for Digital Inclusion, Brazil

- Mr Esko Aho, Executive Vice-President, Corporate Relations and Responsibility, Nokia Corporation, and former Prime Minister of Finland

- Ms Linda Koch Lorimer, Vice President and Secretary, Yale University, US

- HE Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, PhD, Chairman of WISE, Qatar Foundation, Qatar

Find out more about the WISE Awards on: www.wise-qatar.org.

While the WISE Awards acknowledge best practices, the WISE Prize for Education, launched in February, will reward an individual or a team for an outstanding, world-class contribution to education. The Laureate, to be announced at the next WISE Summit in November 2011, will receive $500,000 (US) and a gold medal. This is the world’s first major international Prize for education.

Nominations for the WISE Prize for Education can be made until 30 April 2011 at www.wiseprizeforeducation.org.

About the WISE Awards

The WISE Awards are designed to identify, showcase and promote innovative educational projects from around the world. To date, 12 projects have been awarded and 78 finalists have been shortlisted out of more than 900 submissions from 110 countries. These ‘real world’ initiatives are progressively building a global community of educational innovators. To find out more about the WISE Awards, please visit the website www.wise-qatar.org and the WISE Awards blog: http://awardsblog.wise-qatar.org.

About the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE)

WISE is dedicated to building the future of education through innovation. This global collaborative initiative was inaugurated in 2009 by Qatar Foundation, under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. Its mission is to address the challenges facing 21^st century education, to expand dialogue around the world and to implement practical and sustainable solutions. With this purpose, WISE holds an annual international summit that provides a unique platform and meeting place for thought leaders and experts to share best practices in education. WISE is also a year-round initiative devoted to reaching beyond the traditional circles of the education community to promote innovation and implement concrete actions. The WISE 2011 Summit will take place in Doha, Qatar, 1-3 November 2011. Full details on the WISE website: www.wise-qatar.org.