The 2022 Shimon Peres Prize goes to a German-Israeli and, for the first time, a German-Israeli-Emirati cooperation project. Both projects tie in with the legacy of Shimon Peres, who sought to renew remembrance of the Shoah, build a common future with partners and pave new ways of collaboration. The winning projects have current relevance in Israel as well as in Germany and their results have an impact far beyond the project participants and the project duration.
Creating Holocaust Awareness Among German and Israeli Youth on TikTok
A joint project between the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in collaboration with the American Jewish Committee Berlin, Partners Partners & Company in Jerusalem, TikTok Germany, Werk21 in Berlin, and in cooperation with various memorials and museums.
Social media plays an increasingly important role in active engagement with history. With its short, user-generated video content, the TikTok app, which is particularly popular among young people, offers untapped potential to reach out to young people with innovative forms of commemorating the Shoah.
The goal of the "Creating Holocaust Awareness" project was to use this potential as an educational tool to create a greater awareness of the Shoah among Israeli and German youth. The project brought together memorials, museums, communication agencies, academics, survivors and young TikTok creators from Germany and Israel. Over a period of seven months, the participating memorials and creators conceived and produced hundreds of TikTok videos, also within the framework of a seminar at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In the videos, they presented biographies, guided through the memorials, and thus developed new forms of commemoration. These videos have achieved an impressive outreach.
During the project, the memorials and museums received accompanying training in digital education work so that the TikTok channels can continue beyond the end of the project. The project, therefore, has made a lasting impact on the educational work of the participating institutes and an important contribution to an engaged and innovative commemoration.
More information about Creating Holocaust Awareness among German and Israeli Youth on TikTok
Bavaria Israel Partnership Accelerator 2021 (BIPA)
A joint project between the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship at the Hochschule München – University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with the Deggendorf Institute of Technology, the FOM University of Applied Sciences in Germany, the Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, the East Bavarian Technical University in Regensburg, Tech7 in Beer Sheva and in cooperation with Bavarian businesses.
The program brought students and young professionals from Germany, Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) together digitally with established Bavarian businesses. This represented a milestone, as it was the first time a joint program had been established between Bavaria, Israel and the UAE since the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020.
During the project, nine tri-national teams had to tackle various challenges posed to them by the companies. The focus was on technological and societal challenges – tangible, sustainable, process-oriented and ecological solutions were primarily sought. The challenges dealt, for example, with strategies for achieving the carbon neutrality of a city, ways to increase the consumption of plant-based foods, and how to better design work processes in a district hospital. The program ran for two months and was open to all professional and academic disciplines, resulting in an interdisciplinary composition of the teams. In a unique action-learning experience, the 45 participants were able to expand their personal and professional networks and combine practical professional and academic experiences. The teams were supported by experienced mentors and were able to benefit from the perspectives of their team members.
Through this program, "BIPA" supports efforts toward cooperation and peace in the Middle East and works to create a better future for generations to come.
More information about Bavaria Israel Partnership Accelerator 2021 (BIPA)
