Representatives of the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship (SCE) at Munich University of Applied Sciences, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates accepted the 2022 Shimon Peres Prize on behalf of the entire BIPA consortium. The award is presented annually jointly by the German-Israeli Future Forum Foundation and the Federal Foreign Office.
The international BIPA program is committed to promoting international understanding and combating discrimination, using the education of young people and economic cooperation as a vehicle for this. Since 2021, in addition to the Munich University of Applied Sciences and its SCE business start-up center, the Deggendorf University of Applied Sciences, the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences, the FOM University of Applied Sciences, and its Israeli partner Tech7 from Be'er Sheva, Khalifa University Abu Dhabi from the United Arab Emirates has also been part of the cooperative program. The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Israeli Consulate General for Southern Germany, and the Department of Economic Affairs and Labor of the City of Munich support the program.
The Federal Foreign Office established the prize in memory of former Israeli President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres, who died in 2016. The Shimon Peres Prize is awarded annually to two projects, each endowed with €10,000.
Shimon Peres Prize for BIPA: “I am pleased that this approach was chosen”
The Shimon Peres Prize-winning BIPA program is aimed at students and young professionals from Bavaria, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates. Launched in 2015, the program has attracted 250 participants and over 50 companies in its ten editions to date. Since 2021, students from the United Arab Emirates have also been participating. In international, interdisciplinary teams, they work on real-world problems relevant to companies, developing innovative solutions.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in her speech at the award ceremony about BIPA:
"I'm pleased that this approach was chosen. Because it's not just about meeting government representatives, but also regional actors. That's exactly what we need for future projects. So, young Israeli, German, Bavarian, and Emirati experts and students are working together here to find solutions to the pressing, especially ecological, issues of our time."
