By Lena Gronbach
Jury members from all over Germany have nominated the winners of various awards, competitions and prizes for social initiatives and organizations for the German Engagement Award (‘Deutscher Engagementpreis’). A total of 403 projects and their founders were nominated by the submission deadline on 31 July 2021 and we are incredibly excited that Africademics is one of them!
Prizes in five different categories will be awarded by an expert jury, and an additional prize will be awarded based on the results of a public voting campaign. “We are very fortunate to have so many individuals in our country who have shown incredible strength, flexibility and creativity in their social engagement and who help where help is needed. The volunteers and social change leaders who have been nominated for this award deserve our respect, support and appreciation. I wish all our nominees the best of luck for this year’s competition!”, says Germany’s Minister for Family Affairs, Christine Lambrecht.
The competition is on!
In the first week of September, a high-caliber expert jury will determine the winners in the following five categories:
- Creating opportunities
- Preserving life
- Connecting generations
- Crossing borders
- Strengthening democracy
The winner of each category will be awarded a cash prize of EUR 5,000. In addition, all other nominees stand a chance to win the EUR 10,000 audience award. The winner of the audience award will be determined through a public voting campaign which will run from 09 September to 20 October 2021. Members of the public will be able to cast their vote on the website of the German Engagement Award. All six winners will be announced at the award ceremony which will take place in Berlin on 02 December 2021. The ceremony will be live streamed as well.
About the Award
The German Engagement Award is the umbrella award for social initiatives and civil society projects in Germany. Every year the winners of other awards, competitions and prizes in Germany can be nominated for the German Engagement Award. The Award recognizes volunteers and the initiatives they support, as well as the organizations and institutions that award prizes for social engagement in Germany. The Award aims to strengthen recognition for civil society initiatives in Germany and to encourage more people to become volunteers.
The Award was launched in 2009 and is run by the German Public Benefit Association, a coalition of large umbrella organizations and independent third sector organizations, as well as experts and researchers. The Award is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, the German TV Lottery, and the Deutsche Bahn Foundation.
