Press release
141KB
june 29, 2015 - Benetton
United Nations Academic Impact and United Colors of Benetton: destination future with young university students and faculty from around the world
The winners of the Diversity Contest will be announced at United Nations Headquarters in New York, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter. Their projects will be fully funded by Benetton Group’s UNHATE Foundation
Submissions ranged from "Education for Employment: Tribal Girls in India" to "Access to Water and Integration in Burundi", from "Education for Religious Understanding in Pakistan" to "Workplace Opportunities for Muslim Women in Germany.” Creating a better world, one practical project at a time, in the eyes of young people, is clearly possible and this is the first step towards really making it happen.
Young people the world over have been focused on this, taking part in the Diversity Contest, an initiative aimed at universities, young teachers and students around the world sponsored by United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and Benetton Group’s UNHATE Foundation. They presented concrete projects that have in common social commitment and an active desire to tackle the world’s problems and make it a better place.
The 10 winning Diversity Contest projects will be announced on Friday, June 26, in New York at the United Nations, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter.
The winning projects will be fully funded (to the sum of 20,000 euros each) by the UNHATE Foundation.
The projects will be previewed via a video in which young university students will present their ideas. Thanks to the UNHATE Foundation, these ideas will become realities.
The Diversity Contest is part of a broader, two-phase project, which involved young people from all over the world who tell positive stories about our society through the unhatenews.com website. Developed with the help of creative talents from Fabrica, Benetton Group's communications research centre, under the direction of Erik Ravelo, the project allowed for the creation of a broad and varied "mapping" of how the new generations want to build their world.
In the first phase of the project, which began in November 2014, United Colors of Benetton - in collaboration with the United Nations Academic Impact and through its own UNHATE Foundation - invited young people around the world to post on unhatenews.com "news" stories that they would like to see become reality. For starters, the focus was to be on contemporary issues of global importance and on themes central to United Nations priorities (the "Millennium Development Goals and post- 2015 Development Agenda"), including development and the environment, the war on terror and the building of democracy and human rights with a special focus on women's rights.
By submitting their proposals to the site, young people - through their sharing of texts, photos and videos - have become an active part of a community that participates in the news process and produces an 'ideal' media that is abreast of the times. Among the 100 most clicked "news" items, 10 were chosen by UNHATE Foundation - in line with United Colors of Benetton's social philosophy - and contest entrants were invited to turn them into sustainable projects, to be implemented in 2015. Five stories were selected from those dealing with issues related to diversity, human rights and development while the other five were specifically on women's rights.
In the second phase of the project, UNAI launched the Diversity Contest. This international competition invited universities, teachers and students aged 18-30 to develop and present projects - based on the stories selected in the first phase - addressing local communities and promoting the idea of tolerance, harmony and respect for diversities. The 10 winning projects were selected by a panel of experts including Robert Bullock, Director of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government (State University of New York, Albany); Irene Da Costa, film director and critic; Tunay Firat, Partnerships Specialist at UN Women; La Niece Collins, Information Officer , UNAI; Mariarosa Cutillo, manager of corporate social responsibility for the Benetton Group and CEO of UNHATE Foundation. The winning projects will be published on the UNHATE Foundation website (unhate.benetton.com) and on its social channels, as well as on the UNAI website (academicimpact.un.org).
About United Nations Academic Impact
(academicimpact.un.org).
UNAI is open to all institutions of higher education granting degrees or their equivalent, as well as bodies whose substantive responsibilities relate to the conduct of research. Its essential frame of reference is:
i) To bring into association with the United Nations, and with each other, institutions of higher learning throughout the world.
ii) To provide a mechanism for such institutions to commit themselves to the fundamental precepts driving the United Nations mandate, in particular the realization of the universally determined Millennium Development Goals
iii) To serve as a viable point of contact for ideas and proposals relevant to the United Nations mandate.
iv) To promote the direct engagement of institutions of higher education in programs, projects and initiatives relevant to this mandate.
About Benetton Group and United Colors of Benetton
Benetton Group is one of the best-known fashion companies in the world, present in the most important markets with a network of over 6,000 stores; a responsible group that plans for the future and lives in the present, with a watchful eye to the environment, to human dignity, and to a society in transformation. The Group has a consolidated identity comprised of colour, authentic fashion, quality at democratic prices and passion for its work: these values are reflected in the strong, dynamic personality of the brands United Colors of Benetton and Sisley.
United Colors of Benetton's commitment to social issues has always been central for the brand that, through its communications campaigns and collaborations with leading non-profit organizations, makes the public reflect on social issues of universal relevance.
About UNHATE Foundation
The UNHATE Foundation, desired and founded by Benetton Group, seeks to contribute to the creation of a new culture against hate, building on Benetton’s underpinning values. The core principles through which the Foundation operates are: the fight against hate and discrimination in all its forms; the support of new generations, where youth are the main actors and beneficiaries of concrete projects, communication campaigns and education activities; the dissemination of the social impact of Art, as the key tool of the Foundation in its activities against hate and discrimination. UNHATE Foundation is another important step in Benetton Group’s corporate responsibility strategy: a contribution that will have a real impact in the international community, involving a variety of stakeholders: the new generations, institutions, international organizations and NGOs, civil society and the general public.
About Fabrica
Fabrica is a communication research centre. It is based in Treviso, Italy, and is an integral part of the Benetton Group. Established in 1994, Fabrica offers young people from around the world a one-year scholarship, accommodation and a round-trip ticket to Italy, enabling a highly diverse group of researchers. The range of disciplines is equally diverse, including design, visual communication, photography, interaction, video, music and journalism.
sum15_ucbwoman_01_0
2066x3000, 2MB
Related news |
||
|
|
|
june 25, 2021
|
january 20, 2020
|
november 13, 2018
|
|
The American college-style jacket - to be launched on 24 June in a limited edition - features symbols that recall the artist’s lif... |
The new kids’ collection by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac for United Colors of #benetton makes its debut at Pitti Bimbo, the world’s... |
Paris, 9-11 November 2018. The shop windows of United Colors of Benetton’s Place de l’Opéra store are ready to be transformed into... |
Download all 
You might be interested in |
||
|
|
|
january 28, 2016
|
november 27, 2015
|
september 08, 2015
|
|
Benetton Group, one of the most widely known fashion companies in the world - present in the most important markets with some 5,0... |
"One woman for all. All women for one." This is themessage of the new United Colors of Benetton campaign, to be launchedNovember ... |
Press release available only in Italian "On Canvas", the new concept of store that is the evolution of the identity and character ... |
Italian 
Download all 
Share
Share via mail 
Automotive
Sport
Events
Art&Culture
Design
Fashion&Beauty
Food&Hospitality
Technology
Nautica
Racing
Excellence
Corporate
OffBeat
Green
Gift
Pop
Heritage
Entertainment
Health & Wellness